Not an Owl
by phoenixgirl26
Summary: When Harry is selected as the fourth champion, he decides to leave. Warning: some strong language. No slash.
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing except the idea for the story. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. I just like to play with the characters. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter one

Ever since Harry Potter's name came out of the goblet of fire he realised just how gullible and naïve he had been to believe and trust most of the people inside Hogwarts, but especially Ron Weasley. They had their fights and arguments since they met and became friends, he had expected that, but not the way Ron was acting now.

One thing that Harry realised though was it was usually him that had to make up to Ron. Harry also realise that Ron acted like a spoiled child. It was like he watched his sibling be given a treat and he wasn't so he chucked a tantrum. But Harry also knew that Ron was a bit of a bully and Harry hated bullies. Because of the way the Dursley's had treated him, bullied him, it made Harry aware of others that bullied, he also could tell who got bullied.

Harry had stood with his wand in hand and made a magical oath to sever all ties with the Weasley family apart from Fred and George. He also added to that oath by announcing that he will never again have anything to do with Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape. He made sure to add that none of them could come near him, they couldn't even write to him. When the light flashed around the Gryffindor common room most people had been stunned or shocked. Harry just glared before he walked off. A few students actually hurried away, to tell their head of house what just happened.

Harry thought about what he done, but he felt better than he ever did especially in regards to Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall. The bullying from students was bad enough, but to be continuously bullied by a member of staff is the main reason why he lost all respect for Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall. Neither of them stopped Severus Snape from bullying students. To Harry, Snape was a coward, he picked on children and not anyone who could fight back and the headmaster and deputy head stood back and let it happen.

The following day Harry had seen the magical oath take affect when Ginny tried to approach him, she was flung away from him until they hit the wall. She ended up in a heap on the floor. Ron tried to have a go at Harry until the oath took effect, he ended up unconscious. Everyone finally realised just how serious Harry Potter's oath was. Harry stared down at Ginny and called the life debt she owed. He made sure she knew that she could never have anything to do with him even through a third party, if she did she would die. It was right then that Ginny realised how dangerous Harry Potter was. She could see it in his eyes, he would make sure she died if she ever tried to go near him again, even if she tried to send him a letter, she could end up dead.

Over the next few days Harry did a lot of thinking, he could now since he wasn't being harassed by a Weasley, Granger, McGonagall or Dumbledore. He thought being at Hogwarts would be better than staying with the Dursley's, and in some ways it was. But Harry got treated worse by more people at Hogwarts then he ever did at the Dursley's. He never wanted to live with them, he never wanted to return. He knew by law he would need to remain until at least the age of sixteen, but that was two more years away.

Harry had been doing a lot of thinking about his life at Hogwarts and his life with the Dursley's. If he could just get some more money, he could disappear. He didn't want to clean out his vault in case he would need it, but he could use some. The trouble is he needed somewhere to live without anyone finding out, and he would need to eat. He knew if he did leave he couldn't use magic, not for another three years. But he could use that time to learn, read up on everything he could and learn the theory, but he could also try to study for a muggle education. If he could learn enough he might be able to get a job in the muggle world, who had no idea who Harry Potter was. They did not know anything about the-boy-who-lived.

Harry only spoke with one person since his name came out of the goblet of fire. The one Harry realised never once turned his back on Harry, Neville Longbottom. He realised that this shy boy was more a friend than Ron ever was, he also acted like a friend and Harry had begun to really care about Neville. If he did leave he may stay in contact with Neville, as long as Neville promised to never tell anyone anything about him, not even that he had heard from Harry. Harry knew Neville would give his word, he was the loyal type, not like Ron or Hermione. Harry also knew the twins were still loyal to him, so even though Harry had made the oath against the rest of their family, the twins knew it was Ron and Ginny's fault. Harry didn't put the twins in the same category since they had proved to be true friends to Harry. He had added the rest of the family mainly because of how Percy acted, how Molly Weasley liked to yell and Harry hated anyone that yelled. The oath also meant Arthur Weasley because he allowed his wife to yell and embarrass their kids, she even tried to with Harry. One thing he hated about Molly Weasley was how she tried to act like his mother. Harry would never allow anyone to take his mother's place. That is the main reason he added the other Weasley's to his oath. He wouldn't put up with anyone trying to act like his parents.

As Harry was sitting outside trying to think of how he could find out about the task, Hermione walked up to him. He listened to Hermione as she passed on the message about the dragons. He didn't really care, if Ron was involved with the message then he wanted nothing to do with it.

'Just go tell Ronald…'

'I'm not an owl,' Hermione yelled.

Harry stood up, he was glaring at Hermione, 'You're not an owl, you just acted like one by passing on that pricks message, yet you won't pass on mine. You know what…Granger, you deserve the little prick, so get the fuck away from me and stay away. All of you deserve each other, so don't think I will ever forgive any of you, not anymore,' Harry pulled his wand and redid his oath, which now included Hermione. He saw the shock flash across Hermione's face before he pushed past her making her stumble until she ended up flat on her back. Harry just headed back to the castle. That was the final straw for Harry, Hermione saying she wasn't an owl, yet she acted like one. It showed she supported the red head, and probably always did.

Harry ignored everyone as he lay on his bed behind his curtain. He was thinking about how his name came out of the goblet of fire and how he was told that since it is a magical binding contract that he had to compete. He had re-read the rule book on the triwizard tournament, he mainly concentrated on the magic that bound the champions. If a person entered the magic bound them to the tournament. They had to compete even if they ended up injured, they had to finish or they would have their magical core bound, which would basically make them a squib.

'I lived without magic before I found out about it, if I could get away from the Dursley's then living like a muggle wouldn't be so bad. I would need money though, I couldn't afford to use all that was in vault, so how can I earn money to afford to live away from the Dursley's? But if I did lose my magic then I may not be able to get back into Gringotts, because I wouldn't be able to open the archway to Diagon alley. I would need to remove my money and place it in a muggle bank.'

Harry put his hands behind his head, it was time to do some serious thinking. Not just about the triwizard tournament but about figuring out a way to get a job in the muggle world that won't have witches and wizards find him. If he did leave would anyone really care, Sirius would but it was not like Sirius could help. Remus wouldn't care, he never did for all those years before he turned up as the defence against the dark arts teacher. Only at the end of the year did he find out that Remus Lupin had been one of his father's best friends. He was another that didn't act like a friend. From what Sirius wrote, the Marauders helped each other, Sirius and James helped Remus a lot during the wolf nights. Yet the man didn't bother to help Harry while he was growing up being mistreated by the Dursley's.

Harry sat beside Neville during dinner, he saw Hermione look at him a lot, he would glare back then just go back to eating.

'Dumbledore looks worried, every time he looks this way, at you, he seems really concerned about something,' Neville whispered.

'Probably wondering if I'm going to die during the first task, which I probably will. I mean even if I was the same age as Cedric I'm not sure I could find something that would help me get past a dragon. Who thinks up these things Neville, or do they want to see students injured or killed?'

'It does seem excessive; it takes years of training to become a dragon handler and that starts after they leave Hogwarts or whatever school they attended.'

'It's downright irresponsible to put students in this type of danger. I'm used to the danger that seems to find me here at Hogwarts, but this is going too far. Anyway, I'm finished and I need to research something in the library before curfew. Talk to you later Neville.' Harry saw Neville nod as he got up and left the great hall.

Harry searched the library, he even asked Madam Pince on books about magical binding contracts and magical cores. Harry needed a lot more research before he could decide if he was going to ignore the contract. He knew he could lose his magic, but Harry realised that it didn't worry him, that much. He would learn to adapt to not having magic, like he did as a kid.

'Hey Harry.'

Harry turned to see who was whispering, 'Hi boys, what are you two up to, more mayhem?'

Fred and George chuckled, 'We thought we could help you out with a way to practice…' Fred said.

'…without everyone watching or finding out,' George said.

'Seventh floor, opposite the picture of Barnabas the barmy…' Fred said.

'The dancing trolls,' George smirked, 'Walk past the wall three time thinking about what you want in a room.'

'A door will appear and the room behind it will be exactly what you were thinking about.'

'It's called the room of requirement or the come and go room, it's brilliant.'

'People use it to hide stuff.' Fred said.

'Couples that have found it use it to snog, or shag, it becomes a bedroom, Lee told us,' George said.

'We heard that Trelawney hides her sherry bottles in there,' Fred said.

'Why don't you check it out,' George said then patted Harry on the shoulder, Fred did the same before they left.

Harry stared after the red heads while he thought about what the twins said. If this room was real then it could give him time to figure out what he wanted to do. He gathered the books he found, checked them out then headed to Gryffindor tower. He put the books in his trunk, sealed it, grabbed the map and his cloak then hurried away. He ignored the looks as he left the common room even though it was only a few minutes before curfew. He didn't even care if any, like Hermione Granger, would go to McGonagall and tell that he was out after curfew. Harry thought she was like an owl in a lot of ways, always delivering messages by telling on others. Harry had stopped caring what anyone thought of him, especially the teachers.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Harry stared at the blank section of wall, 'Okay, I could use it to learn, but I need to think, I also need a way to get money, how to earn money while I'm only fourteen,' Harry didn't really know what to think about as he began to walk past the wall, then he heard a faint pop. He saw the door and opened it, he stepped into a room twice as big as the great hall, and it was jammed packed with stuff.

'Blimey,' Harry stared around, 'Well, I could explore a little while I'm thinking.'

Harry began to walk up one of the aisles, he realised there was things in here that would cost a fortune if he had to buy it. There was lots of jewels, very old books, brooms, hundreds of brooms. He saw a large barrel filled with wands, all different types of wands. Harry thought he might try a few out later, see if they would work for him like his holly wand did.

The more he past the more he realised that some of this stuff must have been here for years, even hundreds of years. There was even armour that he knew must be hundreds and hundreds of years old.

'Why do the teachers leave all this, do they even know this is here?' Harry thought of what Fred and George said, how people used this room to shag, the teachers wouldn't allow that, not if they knew. If they don't know this room is here then they wouldn't know about this stuff. Harry's brow furrowed as an idea came to him, an idea on how to get money, but it was something Harry never thought he would ever do, steal. Now he thought about it because if he didn't get away from Hogwarts he will probably end up dead. This could give him the means to live while he worked out what he could do, whether he had magic or not. It would also give him time to decide about a muggle education which could give him a job in the muggle world.

Harry had a few weeks before the first task so even if he still wasn't sure if he would lose his magic if he didn't compete he still needed time. With his cloak he could sneak away, with the map he could sneak out of Hogwarts.

'I saved Hogwarts from closing when I was twelve and all I got was a shiny plaque, money would be better. But being here seems to be dangerous, if I stay then my dumb luck (as McGonagall called it) might just run out,' Harry looked around and found a bag, but to pack the bag with stuff he would not be able to carry it, 'I need a book on charms, something that can help make a bag lighter.'

Harry turned when he saw a glitter of light, a bookshelf seemed to be behind him, he was sure it wasn't there before. Then he remembered what the twins said, it would become whatever you need.

Harry looked at the books, found one of charms, he pulled it down then sat on the floor. Flicking through pages he had a quick read before turning to the next page, then he found one that would help.

'An undetectable expansion charm,' Harry read the description of what the charm would do then he read how to cast the charm, 'That sound easy enough, but I still need to be able to carry it,' Harry turned page after page until he found it, a feather light charm, 'This is what I need.'

Harry knew that whatever he took he would need to keep safe once he left. If he did lose his magic than these spells might not work for him anymore. Harry realised he would need a place to hide the things he planned to take, which meant he would need some type of home, a house would work better so he could have some privacy.

Harry jumped up then began to practice the first spell, the undetectable expansion charm. Once he thought he had it right he pointed his wand at a duffle bag, then twisted and flicked his wand. He saw the bag shimmer for a few seconds then disappear.

'Well, I think it worked, so let's do the next one,' Harry practiced the feather light charm, this one took longer but he also believed it worked.

'Let's test this,' Harry put the book in the bag then grabbed some of the gems he saw, the jewelled necklaces, even a tiara. He found a sword with jewels in the handle, then a matching dagger, both had diamonds and sapphires. He stuck them into the bag, not sure if the sword would fit, but it just seemed to slip in and disappear. He lifted the bag and it felt like there was nothing in it.

'I could spend the next few days in here, filling up the bag, but where would I hide it. If I put it in my trunk any of the boys could find it. I might have used sealing charms but they weren't unbreakable especially for the older kids,' Harry turned to the bookshelf again, 'Books on more powerful locking type charms, if there was those types for trunks. That just brought another problem, how would I drag my trunk around.'

Harry pulled down a few more books, he needed to know a lot more. He knew the teachers could lock their offices, classrooms and private rooms, no student can bypass those. There had to be a spell that was simple enough for a student to use on their trunks but powerful enough to keep everyone out.

When it got late, Harry shoved the bag in a wardrobe near the entrance to the room of requirement. He stuck a heap of stuff on top, he sealed it with the basic locking charm, which would have to do for now. He slipped the cloak on and headed back to Gryffindor tower.

Harry ate breakfast with Neville, sat next to him during class, had dinner, then disappear. He always said he was going to keep studying spells that might work on a dragon. Neville seemed to believe him. He didn't like lying to Neville, but he knew Hogwarts had ears, or the portraits, ghosts and house elves heard things that Harry wanted to keep private.

Harry would spend a few hours finding valuables in the room of requirement, including a lot of money. It seems whenever anyone lost money it ended up in this room. Harry also found the right charms to use, one was a shrinking charm that he could use connected to his blood. It would mean he could place the spell on his trunk here at Hogwarts then shrink it with a drop of blood then using blood again it would resize, so no magic would be involved after the initial spell. He wasn't sure that would still work if he lost his magic but he could use it for now. He had a way to pack his trunk and be able to carry it around. Harry also began to try out some of the wands, most worked well, but four felt just like his holly wand. Harry ended up packing twenty wands into the bag. He found more swords, more daggers, more jewels and continued to find lots of money. But he also found more books that would help him and some were really old.

One thing Harry found a lot of was clothes and shoes. Most were really old fashioned, but one book on transfiguration was how to change clothes, either making them bigger, smaller or making them look completely different.

Harry took a while before he finally got the ruffled shirt front to look more like a normal modern style button down shirt. From then on he began to transfigure a heap of clothes to look just like ordinary muggle clothes, he did the shoes as well.

He wasn't sure if it was luck or if the room was trying to help him, but he found a very old book that seemed to have bookmarks in two pages. The first page was about apparition, Harry knew this would help get around but he also knew it might get detected by the ministry since he is underage. The second page that was marked was something that surprised Harry, a spell that could mask his magic, not just from others or his wand, but it would stop the ministry detecting any magic he used. Harry decided that this was the most important right now, if he kept his magic then being able to use it would help. If he did lose his magic then he could use it to leave Hogwarts quickly then get far away before anyone will realise he had gone. It would also give him time to find somewhere to hide his stuff, but also to resize his trunk if that spell with the blood still required magic.

Every night and the next weekend, Harry spent all his spare time learning the spell. He felt a rush of magic when he finally cast it, just like the book described. Once he knew he had that perfected he began to practice apparition. He found two large rings in the room, the book suggested apparating from one ring to another, then to move the ring to different rooms. Harry knew he couldn't do that but once he got the basic down he could practice more once he was outside of Hogwarts. He just hoped he didn't splinch himself.

Over the next week Harry continued to visit the room of requirement. He practiced apparition, he learned more spells that would help, and he found more things he could sell. One spell Harry found was perfect, it was a glamour, one that would make him look different but he could also make himself look taller and a little older. He could only go up to around five years older, Harry figured that would be enough. It was a difficult spell that would have to be recast a couple of times a day if he wanted to remain unnoticeable, it took Harry all night until he perfected it. He looked in one of the large mirrors to see a man of about twenty staring back at him. The man had beach blond hair, a nose that was wider, but not too wide. He had brown eyes but the most amazing thing Harry saw, or didn't see, there was no scar.

Now Harry knew he could finally sell some stuff without anyone calling the police thinking some kid had stolen the family jewels. That also made Harry think about how to act, he knew some of the stores he would need to go to might try to cheat him, so he had to act confident. One thing he would do was practice using the mirror, he also knew he would try to research things like diamond tiaras so he would get a fair price. He wasn't going to allow anyone to rip him off, this was his life and he had to make sure he got the money he deserved.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

'Okay, I have a few days left before the first task, if I'm going to leave it should be now, before anyone realises I might be up to something. I have stuff to sell, I have money, magical and muggle money. I have clothes, I know I can carry my trunk with me. I have fake papers that any muggle would not look twice at, I've also placed a confundus charm on them. I think I'm ready, so I'll have to tell Hedwig to meet me somewhere. I also have to get to Gringotts, remove everything from my vault, maybe the goblins can just transfer it if I have a muggle account. I needed to buy a place so I would have somewhere to hide my things if I lost his magic. That could take time though but it can't be helped. I'll just buy a place when I found something suitable,' Harry shrugged, he knew he still had a lot to do and he knew he had to make sure no one found him, not if he wanted to survive.

Harry wrote a letter to Neville, but he hid it deep in the boy's trunk, inside his favourite herbology book. He wanted Neville to understand why he decided to leave, about all that had happened to him at the Dursley's and at Hogwarts. Harry had finally had enough and with no parent's to help him out, it was time to help himself.

Harry went to dinner like normal, then showered before getting into bed. He had to wait until everyone in Gryffindor tower was asleep. He could not afford for anyone to figure out he was leaving.

It was three in the morning by the time Harry got through the tunnel that led to Honeydukes. Once hidden under his cloak, he crossed his fingers then thought of where he needed to go. He closed his eyes as he thought of the little dark alleyway not far from the muggle entrance to Diagon alley. He took a deep breath then turned on the spot. Harry hated the feel of apparition, it felt like you were being sucked through a straw.

When he opened his eyes he grinned, he had done it and he wasn't missing any part of himself. He used the glamour charm to change just enough to stop him being recognised, at least until he got to just outside Gringotts. Harry knew the goblins wouldn't take it well if he tried to get into the bank disguised, they might believe he was going to rob the bank. He knew that at this time of the morning there probably wasn't anyone around, but since Gringotts remained open, day or night, someone could be at the back so the glamour was needed.

Harry stepped into the Leaky cauldron which was empty. He knew it would be, so he just headed to the back where the entry to Diagon alley would be. He tapped the bricks, stepped through then hurried up to the big white building at the end where he removed the glamour before stepping inside the doors.

After speaking with a goblin, they organised a muggle bank account, then transferred most of Harry's money. He left a bit to keep his vault open, in the event he didn't lose his magic and decided to return one day. Harry wasn't sure that would happen but he was only leaving a couple of hundred galleons in the vault. That was nothing compared to what he had hidden in his bag. When he had finished organising the transfer the goblin slid some parchment across the table.

'We at Gringotts get notified when there is a major change in our customer's lives, but only that involves Gringotts.'

Harry was confused but he read the parchment, 'This says I'm now classed as an adult, how?'

'The triwizard tournament's rules were changed, magically, only those of age could enter the tournament. The moment your name was called as a champion, magic decided you were now classed as of age. Naturally you are not seventeen, you are fourteen, but magic does not care about that. As of now you are classed as an adult, with all the rights that entails.'

'Wow, okay, I'm not going to compete since I didn't actually enter the stupid contest. Will that affect my status as an adult?'

'No, once your name was submitted, it was legally and magically binding.'

'Thanks for the information, no one bothered to tell me any of this at Hogwarts.'

'The committee for the triwizard tournament would have been notified, along with the headmaster of the hosting school.'

'Yeah, well, the old man has kept things from me before, it's not surprising he would do it again, especially about this. Thank you Griphook, you've been very helpful.'

'I help Gringotts, but you, Mr. Potter, are a strange human.'

Harry grinned at the goblin, he shook his hand then hurried from the bank. He slipped his cloak on then disappeared into the muggle world.

Neville was getting worried, when he woke up he noticed Harry wasn't in his bed. But that wasn't worried him, it was the missing trunk that normally sat at the end of Harry's bed. He waited until Ron, Dean and Seamus left before he checked the wardrobe that Harry normally used, it was empty. He knew that Harry didn't trust the headmaster, nor half the students so he could have found somewhere else to sleep and keep his stuff.

Neville wasn't sure what to do. He had written to his gran a few weeks prior, he told her everything Harry had told him about what his life at Hogwarts and at the Dursley's had been like. Neville knew Harry hadn't told him everything and did wonder what he left out. Neville had been surprised that his gran had told him to just be a friend to Harry, and that the Longbottom's and the Potter's were allies in every sense of the word. They were honour bound to help each other in times of crisis. She believed that someone was manipulating Harry's life, but she also said she would be there for Harry if he needed an adult to talk to.

Neville decided to write to his grandmother, tell her that Harry disappeared, hopefully she would get back to him quickly. He had no idea what to tell people, but really, he didn't know anything. He knew Harry had deliberately kept everything to himself that way Neville couldn't tell anyone anything even if he wanted to, which he wouldn't unless he had no choice. After hearing the things Harry had told him Neville decided that someone had to be there for Harry since no one else ever had. The worry for Neville was the binding magical contract, if the champions didn't compete in the tournament, they would have their magic bound. If Harry did leave then he would be basically a squib. Neville didn't think it would worry Harry very much, he lived with muggles, he was used to the muggle world. But Harry would be stuck with the Dursley's who admitted they didn't like Harry, or even want him.

Neville just decided to say he didn't know anything if he was questioned, which was the truth. So he headed down through the castle ready for breakfast. It was only three days before the first task and everyone had begun to get excited. Some looked worried since it's not uncommon for a champion to get seriously injured, some have even died.

Albus Dumbledore watched the students enter the great hall. He noticed that Neville Longbottom came in alone, sat alone and never spoke to anyone. Ever since Harry Potter's name had come out of the goblet of fire, Neville had been sitting with Harry, in the great hall and in classes. Albus wasn't worried, he figured Harry was beginning to get nervous and wanted time alone. Albus knew that Harry would go to the kitchens for food when he was hungry, like he did when he needed to send food to Sirius.

All that day no one had seen Harry Potter, but again, Albus wasn't worried even though he was curious as to why the boy didn't attend any classes. Harry was not seen at dinner, Neville was again sitting alone.

It was near eleven o'clock that night that Neville watched Ron leave the dorm room. Neville had seen the red head staring at Harry's empty bed. He was curious to see what Ron would do, he probably went to talk to Hermione, or even his brothers.

Neville waited for ten minutes before he closed the curtains around his bed, curled on his side, ready for sleep.

'Mr. Longbottom.'

Neville jumped then pulled open the curtains to see his head of house standing beside his bed.

'Yes professor.'

'Do you know where Mr. Potter is?'

'No ma'am, I haven't seen him since yesterday.'

'Did he say anything that might make you believe he was leaving?'

'No, he has been looking up spells that might work against a dragon. He would use his cloak so he wouldn't be disturbed,' Neville sighed then pointed at the end of Harry's empty bed, 'I did notice his trunk was gone, I checked the wardrobe, which is empty. I just figured he got sick of the way everyone treated him and bullied him, so he found somewhere else to sleep. I would have told you in the morning if I hadn't seen him, but I figured I would give him time, he likes to be alone.'

'Thank you for your information, if you do hear from him send him directly to the headmaster.'

'I will,' Neville wasn't going to do that but he wouldn't tell them that. He watched a worried McGonagall leave, he noticed Seamus and Dean glance at him, Ron did as well. Neville pulled the curtains back around his bed, he didn't want to listen to them. Those three had badmouthed Harry a lot since his name had come out of the goblet of fire, he didn't want to see them acting all worried. He wasn't sure they would, but he just didn't want to deal with people that could treat a friend the way they had treated Harry. He would write to Harry, tell him some of the things he heard, he just hoped Harry would be okay. Even though Harry had the magical oath against Ron and most of his family, he still didn't want to hear Ron say anything about his friend. He might just surprise everyone and hex the red head.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

Harry had been amazed at how much the sword and dagger had netted for him, two hundred thousand pounds. The man who owned the shop tried to argue with Harry about taking cash. But Harry, in his disguise, explained that he would be fine, and did not have far to go where he had a safe waiting for him.

Harry didn't have anywhere to go, at least not yet, for now he had found a decent hotel and got a room. He had sealed the money in his trunk, using one of the locking charms he had found in the book from the room of requirement. He knew he was safe from muggles trying to rob him, and he didn't think he would bump into any witch or wizard so he figured he was safe.

In case he did lose his magic, and that blood spell for shrinking his trunk didn't work he decided to conjure some wheels for his trunk. He knew he wouldn't be able to carry it, now he wouldn't have to, if he lost his magic. He just hoped the conjured wheels didn't disappear when he's magic did. He would have to remember to remove the locking charms in case he ended up locked out of his own trunk when his magic was bound, if his magic was bound. Even though he was now classed as an adult, he wasn't sure if he would keep his magic since he was breaking the magical binding contract.

The day of the first task arrived, Harry was wondering if he would still have his magic or not. If he didn't then at least he had enough money to live on until he got older.

'Now, where do I go, I have to stay away from Scotland, anywhere near the Dursley's is out. Not that I want to be anywhere near that lot. I can't go to where my parents live, they would look for me, so Wales is out,' Harry lay back on the bed in his rented hotel room, his hands behind his head, 'I have to try my magic, see if I still have it, but I don't feel any different so maybe I do, maybe I wouldn't notice if I lost it, since technically I wouldn't lose it, my magic was just bound. I'll try soon, since I'm not sure what time the champions would begin the first task or in what order. First I have to work out where to go, maybe Ireland would be a good place to go. London is a big city but there was a big chance of bumping into someone that knew him, I'm was not connected to Ireland at all.'

Harry got a map out of the drawer, he studied it, thinking about the different areas of Ireland he could look at. He knew now he had some money he could take his time, so he figured he would spend the next few days looking around Ireland.

Back at Hogwarts people were still looking for Harry, but so far no one had seen him. Now it was the morning of the first task, the teachers and some students had begun to worry. Neville had heard Hermione talking to Ron, Ginny and the twins about the magical binding contract and how Harry would have his magic bound if he didn't show up. Neville glared when he heard Ron say Harry was hiding, probably hoping to make a big entrance. Neville knew that Harry wasn't like that, it seems the so call best friend didn't know Harry at all.

The first three champions faced their dragons, they all got injured but they also got their eggs. When Harry's name was called everything went silent, there was no sign of Harry Potter. The teachers and the committee waited for two hours before they decided to find out where the boy was. When Bartemius Crouch announced that the first task was over, Mad-eye Moody screamed before he collapsed.

Albus raced over to his friend, then stood in shock as the man he had known for years began to change.

'Crouch,' Snape snarled as he stared down at the death eater.

'Bartemius, I believe you have some questions to answer,' Albus bound the man before he turned to his deputy head, 'Minerva, inform the Minister,' Albus got Poppy's attention who levitated the now bound death eater to her hospital.

'It seems we found who entered the boy's name,' Severus said as he followed the headmaster and matron to the castle.

'Yes, but the question is, why?'

'The brat told you about his dream, I would say Crouch intended to get Potter to the dark lord.'

'If he intended Harry to win, then he had plans either for something inside the maze, in the black lake, or for the triwizard cup,' Albus stared at the man being levitated towards a hospital bed, 'A port key would make the most sense so something inside the maze could be charmed. We did discuss who would place the cup in the maze before the third task.'

'Did he request to be given the job?'

'No, but if this was really Alastor, I would have given him the task of placing the cup then to check the enchantments.'

'Then they must have studied Alastor Moody and you.'

The two men turned when Filius Flitwick levitated an unconscious Alastor Moody into the room. He was missing his leg and eye.

'I found him in his trunk, pieces of his hair is missing.'

'At least you know who has been stealing from your store cupboard, Severus.'

'This man has his magic bound headmaster.'

'Ah, so the magic behind the goblet of fire recognised crouch not Harry, he would still have his magic. We must find him.'

'I would say he left headmaster, I could not blame him, not with the way he was being treated. Not to mention what that vial woman has been writing about him. If the boy had parent's she would not get away with writing those stories.'

'Yes, I should have stopped it after the first article, Poppy, but I have been so consumed with who entered Harry in the tournament. Then I was hampered by that magical oath Harry did, I could not speak to him about anything. Stay with him until the minister and aurors turn up, I must check my instruments to see if Harry is still in the castle.'

When everyone assembled in the great hall for dinner that night, Albus Dumbledore made an announcement. He explained about Barty Crouch junior and how the man had entered Harry Potter's name in the goblet of fire, the man was now a squib. Albus also announced that Harry Potter left and as far as he knew, he would not return.

Hermione dragged Ron out of the great hall as soon as dinner was over, Ginny, Fred and George followed.

'He wouldn't go to the Dursley's, do you think he wrote to Sirius?' Ginny asked.

'I would say they planned to meet up, all we can do is try to get him to forgive us and return to Hogwarts, and hopefully remove the oath,' Hermione said.

'That won't happen,' Fred said.

'Last year you told on him to McGonagall about the broom then we heard how he had a go at you, something about being an owl,' George said.

'This year Ron called him a liar, add that to the many fights you two have had over the last few years. You both have strikes against you, some from Ron two from Hermione,' Fred said.

'I wouldn't be surprise if we never see him again, at least not for a very long time,' George said.

'Then add the oath, you three will end up badly injured or worse if you try to talk to him,' Fred said.

'He won't remove it, not after what you did,' George said then walked off with his twin.

'I balls it all up didn't I?' Ron grimaced.

'Yes, but I did as well, I told you what he said to me and how he looked when I wouldn't pass on his message to you. He would see that as a betrayal, I betrayed him for you, you betrayed him by not believing your friend. He would even see Ginny as betraying him as she never once spoke to him. If we ever see him again he will not forgive us, I don't blame him. But Fred is right, we can't approach him in any way or the oath will cause something to happen to us.'

'Okay, we deserve it, but why would Crouch enter Harry and what were his plans?' Ron asked.

'It would have to be about you-know-who. Harry told us about that dream he had before the quidditch world cup. Professor Dumbledore believes he is getting stronger and Peter Pettigrew was with him in the dream. So he has some of his death eaters with him.'

'Do you think Dumbledore should have done more than an age line to keep underage students from entering or being entered like what happened with Harry?' Ginny asked.

'Yes, an age line would only stop those under the age of seventeen from entering. We could have asked a seventh year to enter us and it would have been allowed.'

'Then Dumbledore stuffed up again. Harry was right, he said the old man seems to make too many mistakes or just doesn't bother doing enough,' Ron said, 'I never mentioned this but Harry said to me after the quidditch cup that Dumbledore almost let Ginny die. When I asked what he meant he said Fawkes came to him down in the chamber. Harry said that meant Fawkes could have taken Dumbledore down there the moment the first lot of writing appeared on the wall near Mrs. Norris. It's true, why didn't he go down there straight away? The phoenix can bypass any enchantments or passwords, like speaking parseltongue. Harry admitted that it was luck that saved Ginny and he still has no idea what made him stab the diary with the fang. If he didn't stab it Ginny would have died since the memory was sucking the life force out of her.'

'I know Harry has been…well, disappointed in Professor Dumbledore, but surely he would have tried to stop all that happening.'

'I'm not so sure, maybe we all put too much faith in him because of who he is, we're not looking at what he is doing now, or not doing,' Ginny said, 'That man was a death eater, how did he get in here if he has the dark mark? The castle wards are supposed to be warded against that. I was talking to Bill, he told me he studied the book on Hogwarts wards. They were strengthened during the first war with you-know-who. The teachers combined their magic to stop anyone with a dark mark entering.'

'There is talk that Snape is or was a death eater, maybe he removed the ward so Snape could teach,' Ron said.

'He would have to if he has the mark, but I had to admit this, I think you're both right. Maybe it's time I stopped believing he can do no wrong and look at what he is doing now. Let's go up to your dorm room Ron, I want to write to Harry and hope he will accept my apology.'

'We all will write, I just don't know if it will do any good. Let's just hope the oath doesn't make us all end up unconscious,' Ron sighed, but he knew he was to blame, Hermione and Ginny stuck by him so Harry involved them in the magical oath. He was always told his temper would get the best of him one day, well, that day had come.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

Once Harry realised he still had his magic he decided it was time to find somewhere to live. So over the next few weeks Harry looked around Ireland. After studying the map he would apparate to some land or woods, anywhere a muggle wouldn't see him pop into view. He would look around at some of the cheaper houses, he only needed something small and he wasn't worried if it needed fixing up. The goblins explained that he can access the other vaults now, but he really didn't want to be seen by any magicals, not until he was a lot older.

Harry found a small stone cabin deep in the woods, it needed a lot of work but it was sturdy and cheap. Harry bought the cabin, then sent a letter to the goblins, he hired them to ward his property. Once that was done it was time for Harry to move into his own home.

Harry went to buy some basic food, just to keep him going over the next few days. He knew using magic that you had to keep up your strength which meant eating regularly. He mainly wanted to work on the few holes in the roof, get that done then at least if it rained nothing would get wet. He had gone to a camping store, bought a camp stove, a camp bed and some blankets, so now he had something to sleep in. He could cook on his small portable stove until he could clean and fix anything that was damaged in the kitchen.

The magical world found out that Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived was missing, that he left Hogwarts after a death eater entered him in the triwizard tournament. The minister had the hit wizards searching for him, but he did get curious as to why the department of the misuse of magic office had not picked up on Harry's magic. He finally found out that when Harry's name came out of the goblet of fire, magic decided he was now an adult. That meant the trace was lifted, it also meant there was no way to trace him.

Albus Dumbledore was extremely worried, he knew when Voldemort returned that only Harry could kill him. It hadn't been until a week after Harry snuck out of Hogwarts that Albus realised that he had made too many mistakes in regards to Harry Potter, which told him that the boy wouldn't care if he heard about a prophecy. Albus overheard many students say Harry was a liar, some still talked about how he was a parselmouth which meant he was dark. All the times Harry had been bullied by students and Severus, Albus stood back and let it happened. He thought it would make Harry stronger. It would cost them the war, whenever it started again. It would also cost lives, but those lives are the ones who turned their backs on Harry, so why would he return to save them.

Albus knew he had lost the chosen one. He had one hope, his godfather, first he had to make Fudge realise that Sirius was innocent and a trial would prove it. He could tell Cornelius that Harry also left because the minister refused to believe him when he said Sirius was innocent and if the public found out then Fudge might be voted out of office. If Sirius was cleared, then maybe Sirius Black would find Harry Potter and bring him back. It was a long shot as no one had seen Harry nor heard from him. Any mail that was sent came back unopened. Hermione, Ron and Ginny's letters returned, unopened, but the three old friends of Harry's ended up hexed, due to the oath. They had tried to contact Harry now they had to wait until the hex wore off, Albus just hoped it did.

Harry fixed the house, using magic, the stone blocks that was lying inside and outside the cabin were easily lifted back into place. Before Harry began the repairs on the inside of the house, he had dug out a hole in the floor, in the room he planned to use as a bedroom. He fitted a door, like the trap door fluffy was guarding. Harry used magic to reinforce it the hid the rest of his stolen items. None of that would be needed over the next few years, for now, he had enough to keep him going, at least for three or four years. He had taken the wands and placed them all around the house, he had transfigured different things into wand holders so wherever he was inside the house he could get a wand if he ended up in danger. Harry had also done the same outside, he placed wands around the house and down near the forest.

Harry would work through the day, only stopping to have something to eat, then work again. He knew he would need proper furniture, but he had time for that. Being in Ireland there was a good chance that he would not being recognised, he hoped that was the case. He planned to use some muggle methods to change his appearance, there were spells to cancel looks altered by magic. Using a muggle method meant they could not identify him. Harry wanted to keep learning magic now he still had his magic, which meant books, he also thought he could teach himself how to make potions. They would help to keep himself concealed but for now muggle means would do.

Over the next month Harry had repaired every hole or broken part of the cabin. He smiled, feeling proud of himself. The cabin still needed work, but mainly things like painting, new carpets, furniture and things to make it a home instead of just a house. He had been lucky with the kitchen and bathroom. It might not be very modern, but everything was in good condition, both rooms just needed a good clean. The house had electricity, most of the switches and plugs were old, but they worked. He knew eventually he would need to get an electrician out to update, unless he decided to remove the electricity and have a full magical home.

Harry's first shop was for a bed, a big double bed, then he needed the linen to go with it. He had been using drying charms after having a shower, now he bought a heap of towels. He went through the linen section and realised he would need a lot of linen. When he finished in the bedroom and linen department, he got himself a washing machine. That would be needed so he could wash the linen and all his clothes. He looked around at sofas and bookshelves next, he also needed kitchen items and a table. He knew this would take a big chunk of his money, but he realise he wouldn't need to buy anything again, at least for a very long time. So Harry spent the entire day ordering different items, until he had everything that was needed. Since it was a muggle shop Harry had to give them his address so they could deliver everything, but they could deliver everything at the same time. He would return to shopping for personal things in a few days.

Harry didn't even realise it was Christmas until he walked through the small town. He saw Christmas trees and shop windows with Christmas decorations. Harry never really had a good Christmas, not at the Dursley's and at Hogwarts he always had to put up with Snape, or he knew about some danger. This time he might be alone but he was at least safe. He figured he would buy something for Neville and Sirius, he would send whatever he bought from London in the hope they would believe he was living amongst the muggles in a big city. He would love to visit his parent's graves, but he knew someone was bound to be watching and if it was Dumbledore's old friend, Mad-eye Moody, he could see through his cloak. Harry knew he could use a glamour, then act like he was at another grave, but he figured it might be a risk, at least for now. He knew if he just had some patience he would finally get to say goodbye to his parent's.

Harry didn't buy a Christmas tree or decorations, he might be happier alone but he wasn't really in the mood to celebrate. He bought gifts for Sirius and Neville, he wrote a small note saying no one could contact him, so there was no use sending any owls, but he wanted them to know he cared. Harry thought of setting up a post box, but again someone could end up watching it.

As Harry was sitting in front of his fireplace he glanced up at the books he had taken from Hogwarts, one seemed to jump out at him. He took the book on charms down then curled up on the sofa and began to read. There was a charm he could use on a set of mirrors, it would mean two people could see and talk to each other, but they could not be traced in anyway.

'If I charm a set of mirrors then I could speak with Sirius and Neville. I can't be tracked so there isn't any danger,' Harry stared down at the words in the book, he decided to do it. So when the shops opened after the holidays, he would buy two sets of mirrors. Harry smiled knowing he would get to speak with his godfather and Neville again. He might not see them for years, if at all, but at least they could talk. Harry could also find out what happened when he didn't turn up for the first task.

Back at Hogwarts Albus had done a lot of thinking about Harry Potter and Sirius Black. He knew Sirius would search the world for Harry, right now he couldn't take the risk of being seen. He did go out occasionally as Padfoot, but he would need to risk exposure to apparate which had to be done when he was a man, not a dog. He had an idea, to use rumours, he knew what Hogwarts was like where there was a juicy rumour, it spread quickly. He spoke with Hermione, Ron, Ginny and the twins, he thought they would help him spread the rumour that Sirius was innocent and that was one of the reasons Harry left. That just might have people who still admired the-boy-who-lived write to the minister.

It only took a week for people to finally hear that Harry Potter left not just because he had been forced into the triwizard tournament, it was also because the minister refused to believe that Sirius Black was innocent. Harry Potter had seen proof that Sirius didn't betray his parent's or murder those muggles. The rumour went around that if the minister and ministry could lock away innocent people then he wanted nothing to do with people like that. They also mentioned how Harry Potter had begun to think of a career, how he thought of being an auror, now he won't. Not when Fudge refused to see the proof that Harry Potter had, he didn't want to work for people like that.

Albus waited, he just hoped it might work. If enough people began to question the minister for magic and people inside the ministry, then Fudge would end up sacked as minister. Or at least not voted in again at the next election.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

Harry never had any type of routine, he would eat when he was hungry, he would go to bed when he was tired. Some nights he might not eat until ten or eleven, he wouldn't get to bed until two or three in the morning. But Harry found he slept better going to bed later.

Harry bought the two sets of mirrors, he charmed them then sent one off to Sirius and one off to Neville. He didn't use Hedwig, she seemed to understand, so he would tell her she could fly any time, he just couldn't send her out with mail. He did plan to send her to other countries, it would not be a risk if she was seen taking orders there. All he had to do was write down that he needed books written in English.

Harry had finished eating his dinner and was once again curled up on the sofa when his eyes kept drifting to one of the books on the shelf. Usually when that happened the book had information that Harry liked or needed. He grabbed the book curled his legs under him then opened it to the first page, animagus.

'I know Sirius and my dad did it at Hogwarts, but it took them three years. Sirius also said they had a few bad starts where they were left with animal ears or feet, until they were able to reverse it,' Harry decided he wouldn't try yet, but he would read up on the animagus spell.

Harry got another feeling about another book, when he opened it he saw this was not a dark arts book but it was not filled with light magic either. There was a curse in there that Harry actually hoped would work on muggles. He wanted to use it on the Dursley's. It would not physically hurt them, it would just cause them to continuously have bad luck.

Harry went out, bought a packed of Christmas cards, he attached the curse. He addressed them to Vernon Dursley, Petunia Dursley, Dudley Dursley, Marge Dursley and Dudley's little gang. It was time those people paid for how they mistreated Harry when he was only a small child.

Harry's thoughts drifted to the letters he sent with the mirrors, both were similar with just a few personal things written to Sirius. The main thing he wrote was if they told anyone about the mirror, especially the ministry or Dumbledore then Harry would break it and they would never hear from him again. He knew Sirius would be curious as to why. Harry would tell him but he wanted his godfather to know what he expected, that Sirius would be loyal to his godson, not to Albus Dumbledore. He knew Neville wouldn't tell anyone other than his gran, but Harry realised his gran wasn't one to just listen to people like Dumbledore. So if Neville told her anything about Harry's life then hopefully she would never tell anyone that Neville was able to communicate with Harry.

The first conversation Harry had with Neville was great, they talked and talked. Neville explained what happened to Mad-eye, or Crouch. He explained that his gran had found out that the ministry were trying to find him. He also explained that the minister wouldn't last long in his job. People were calling for him to be sacked because of what happened with Sirius. Some would say if Sirius Black was innocent then anyone could be thrown in Azkaban. Neville also told Harry that there may just be a chance that his godfather could end up cleared. If he hears anything he would let Harry know, which he was grateful to his friend. Neville did also tell him how Hermione, Ron and Ginny had been acting after he left, that they sent Harry letters apologising for their behaviour. Harry explained he couldn't receive letters, but if he could he would have sent them back a howler. But since they did send letters then then the oath would take effect. Harry asked Neville to warn them that the oath will get stronger if they kept trying to break it. Which meant they could end up severely injured, or worse, not just hexed as they were at the moment. Harry didn't want them dead or permanently injured, he just wanted them out of his life and to leave him alone.

After Harry and Neville disconnected the mirrors Harry decided to try Sirius, 'Damn pup, are you okay?'

'I'm fine, better than I've ever been. So are you alone?'

'Yes, I get what you said even if I have no idea why. But I won't take the chance that you won't see me again. Speaking of, when can I see you?'

'I'm not sure, you could get followed, tracked, who knows but I'm not ready to see anyone just yet. We can talk for now.'

'I wouldn't be followed pup, if I'm careful I shouldn't be tracked. But if you want it this way I'll accept it.'

'Thank you, hearing that means I can trust you, I just don't trust anyone else.'

'Why, tell me what is going on and why wouldn't trust anyone?'

'That will take more than one conversation.'

'Okay, so let's start with Albus, you said I wasn't allowed to tell him and if I did then you would never speak to me again.'

'I need to know something first.'

'I'll tell you anything I can pup.'

'Okay, why was it up to the old man to decide where I live and when I can leave?'

'I'm not sure I know what you mean.'

'Dumbledore left me with the Dursley's, he isn't family, so why was it up to him?'

'The Dursley's are blood family, if a child is orphaned then the first choice to take the child is blood family.'

'Okay, but they are muggles, my dad was a pureblood, would he have wanted me raised by muggles?'

'No, I was supposed to raise you, as I was named godfather. They would have given you to me because you were magical and the Dursley's aren't.'

'Was there any type of documentation about who I was supposed to go to if my parent's died?'

'I'm sure your parent's made out a will, they knew the danger and they were in hiding.'

'So that would be at the ministry.'

'No, it's probably at the cottage. They were in hiding so they couldn't leave the house. They would have left a copy in their vault and one at the ministry but it was too risky.'

'What do you know of mum's sister?'

'Nothing really, your mum never spoke about her. She did say her parent's died in a car accident, which was a year after leaving Hogwarts. But nothing was ever said about her sister.'

'I overheard a conversation between her and her fat fuck of a husband. Petunia hadn't spoken to mum since she got her first Hogwarts letter. She said she didn't like her freak of a sister but now they were stuck with her freak of a son. If they weren't talking then I doubt mum would have wanted me with her whether we were blood family or not. So you see, how did I end up there? Why did people allow the old fucker to leave me with muggles? Think about it Sirius, I did a lot of magic when they hurt me, we're supposed to keep hidden so the muggles don't find out. I was in a classroom with thirty other kids and I turn my teacher's hair blue. When Dudley's gang was Harry hunting I ended up on a roof. I made the glass disappear at the zoo, where there were hundred' of people. Every time they bullied me or hurt me I did magic and sometimes there were many other muggles around.'

'That was dangerous, to all of us. Do you remember anyone visiting to talk about why you kept doing magic?'

'No, that word was not allowed in that house, nothing strange or abnormal was allowed in that house, as far as they were concerned.'

'Okay, something is going on, when any child does magic the parent's will get a letter, if it happens again they get their first visit. Now I do know they will investigate to find the reasons why the child keeps doing magic. Some of the old homes, like my parent's place, they are warded so the ministry can't detect underage magic, but not all people have them and muggle homes aren't allowed to be warded until the magical person is of age. Some people don't bother with wards, some can't afford it. By the sound of it someone didn't bother finding out why magic was being used in a muggle home, or they were bribed to ignore it, again, that's dangerous.'

'I got a letter before my second year saying if I did any more magic I would be expelled. But I didn't do magic, Dobby, a house elf did.'

'Okay, something is definitely wrong, that letter would have only been sent after two other bits of magic was picked up. They would have also wrote that someone would be speaking with you to find out why. You see, children often do magic without meaning to when they are hurt or angry. They want to check on the child to make sure they aren't being abused at home. Alright, when I get my name cleared, which hopefully won't be long now, I will go visit the person in charge of the misuse of magic office.'

'The letter I got was from Mafalda Hopkirk.'

'Then I'll visit her, I just have to wait.'

'Neville told me about the rumours and how the minister is being sent abusive letters because he refused to believe me. How did these rumours start when we were told to keep our involvement with you a secret?'

'I don't know, but after speaking with you I have a feeling it might have been Albus. He would probably believe you would allow me to see you once I can get cleared.'

'He likes to manipulate things, but I will never return, not after everything that's happened. I won't risk going into any magical area, I don't want to take the chance he would force me back with the Dursley's, or someplace worse.'

'I'll go to the house, as Padfoot I can get in there without anyone seeing me. I know your parent's would have made out a will, they would be in the wall safe in the office. Only four people knew where it was and the password to open it.'

'Can you tell me?'

'Sure, it's a picture in your dad's office and it's behind the picture of you in your mother's arms, James is standing beside you and Lily. The password is Tiger Lily. James had planted them for Lily when they first moved into the cottage. The reason he picked tiger lilies was he thought Lily had a growl like a tiger, especially when she was angry with me and Prongs.'

Harry chuckled, 'Did she get angry with you two a lot?'

'Oh yeah, she even banned me from the house, it took a month before she allowed me back. She said if I did something like that again she would make sure the charms to keep me out were permanent.'

'Yet, she still agreed that you would be my godfather.'

'Only after James said she can choose the godmother. James picked his best friends, Lily did the same. When I realised how serious she was about blocking me from the house, I stopped playing pranks or planning them with James at the house.'

'So I have a godmother?'

Sirius sighed, now he knew something was wrong. Harry hadn't been informed about many things, including his godmother. He hoped if he got his name cleared then he could meet Harry somewhere then fill him in on everything.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

'Your godmother is Alice Longbottom, Neville's mother. Alice and Frank were cursed into madness not long after your parents died. Frank and Alice were an aurors and causing a lot of problems for Voldemort and the death eaters.'

'So basically Neville is like a god brother, in a way.'

'Yes, Lily and Alice planned to raise you together so you would be like brothers. I know I'll have to fill you in on a lot when I can see you but there is something you should know. I would say it's the main reason Albus will stop at nothing to find you.'

'He's always paid more attention to me than any other student, I could never figure out why. I didn't want to believe he would use me for the-boy-who-lived shit.'

'It's part of the reason, but not to use in the way you're thinking. There was a prophecy, made about Voldemort and a baby boy that could vanquish him, the boy would be born at the end of July. I don't remember all of it, but Albus told your parent's just before you were born, James told me. Albus did not want them telling anyone but James told me everything. Now Neville was born the day before you, so your family and the Longbottom's went into hiding, using the fidelius charm. I'm not sure how the death eaters were able to get into Longbottom manor, but Neville was spared.'

'He must believe I'm the boy since he pays attention to me and not Neville.'

'Something about marked as his equal.'

'Is there a way I can hear the prophecy?'

'You would have to go into the ministry of magic, to the department of mysteries and the hall of prophecy.'

'That won't happen, at least not until I'm a lot older. So marked, my scar?'

'Yes, or that's what I believe.

'Equal, I'm not his equal, apart from being boys with dark hair that can talk to snakes. Maybe I should do some research into him. But prophecies are not always fulfilled, even if they are true, which I don't believe. I put up with Trelawney always predicting my death, yet I never died. Look at the one I heard, I thought it was about you but it was about the rat.'

'True, but Voldemort must have heard it Harry, to go after you.'

'But if it said I could vanquish him why did he try?'

'No idea, unless he didn't believe anyone could kill him.'

'He didn't die though. So if there is a prophecy, did it mean I vanquished him the night my parents died or does it mean I still have to? I wouldn't anyway, not with the way Fudge, Dumbledore, Snape and everyone else is. Look at how those snotty purebloods act towards people like Hermione, they think I'm not much better. There is no way I will fight Voldemort for people like that.'

'Then if Albus tells me about the prophecy I won't mention what you just said.'

'Thanks, but I heard a rumour before I left Hogwarts. Purebloods dumped their squib kids in muggle orphanages, is that true?'

'Yes, they don't want to be associated with squibs.'

'So what happens to the kids?'

'First they are obliviated so they won't remember their families. Then they grow up like muggles, most can see things like dementors and Hogwarts but can't do magic.'

'That's so wrong, it's not the kids fault, it's the parent's fault. You told me about how most purebloods only marry other purebloods which means people they are related to. It's like in the muggle world, if you have kids with first cousins or siblings then you kid could end up deformed. In the magical world the kids end up with no magic, so it's the parents who are to blame.'

'All true, but they don't believe it. The people like the Malfoy's are destroying the magical community in this country. All muggleborns end up back in the muggle world because of the way they are treated. People with one magical parent and one muggle parent are treated almost as bad, so some of those leave.'

'I get that, but also, people like me and Hermione are forced to give up things we like and grew up with just to go to Hogwarts. I always wanted to learn to play a musical instrument. I did consider trying out for some sport, but Dudley made that impossible. I fooled around with an electric piano that Dudley asked for then it was shoved in my old room with all the stuff he didn't want. I even wanted to learn the drums. If I did want to learn that, I couldn't keep going at Hogwarts. This place I'm living in has electricity and I'm thinking of leaving it that way. I can do magic outside the house, just not inside, unless they are low powered spells. But I found a book on runes that I think could help protect electricity from magic, I just need to learn more about ancient runes.'

'Lily hated having a magical home, she said she had to walk down to the town so she could ring her friends from the muggle world. She said once when we were in fourth year that she would have liked to ring her parent's but Hogsmeade was a full magical town, so no phones. James had shed built down the back of the property then had power and phone lines rigged up, just so Lily could use all that muggle stuff.'

'Sirius, if you saw some of the muggle stuff that is around today, you would want a muggle home. You can watch movies from your living room, play computer games where you can blast people to pieces. You could watch a different movie every night and never run out of things to watch. I like to read Sirius, but I also like to watch movies and documentaries. I've been watching things on world war two, things on the military. I mean I could probably use some of those muggle weapons and blow up Malfoy manor, if I wanted to. There are movies with naked woman that you would love,' Harry smirked then laughed as his godfather almost dropped his mirror.

'I want to see those.'

'When I feel we can meet in person, I might just show you. It's a good way for someone like me to get an education on sex and not just hear all the older boys talking about their conquests. I'm sure most of them lie or exaggerate.'

'Most lie, they would not have done anything but made it sound like they did. Now your dad could have had many girls, but he fell for Lily hard so he wasn't going to risk shagging some other girl just for Lily to believe he only wanted her for one reason.'

'Which most boys will, like you Padfoot?'

Sirius shrugged, 'I was single and I wasn't really interested in any particular girl. But I originally started shagging girls so my brother would tell my parent's about the muggleborns or halfbloods I slept with.'

'So your parent's are like the Malfoy's?'

'Worse, they never became death eaters, Regulus did, but they were right into the dark arts and used their money to support old Voldy. I only just found out that I wasn't officially disowned. My grandfather refused, he believed I would make the family proud, he also knew how dangerous it was and he wanted one of his grandsons to be able to take over. So if I get my name cleared I will be officially Lord Black. The Blacks are one of the oldest families in our world, we hold a seat on the Wizengamot as well.'

'So an ancient and noble family.'

'Yes, but how did you hear about that?'

'Neville, the Longbottom's are ancient and noble. Neville told me about the lessons he has with his grandmother during the holidays. It's to make him ready for when he takes the Longbottom seat on the Wizengamot. But Neville told me that the Potters and Longbottom's always supported each other, no matter what.'

'It's true, it's been a binding pact for centuries. Each generation the younger ones are taught so they would know what it meant, but also so the can grow up together. Frank was only two years older than me and your dad, but they were still very close. I think the only reason Frank and Alice joined the order of the phoenix was because of this connection to your family.'

'I would never let Neville join me if I was going to fight, I wouldn't put him in that type of danger.

'From what you've told me Neville already supports you, so I doubt he would turn his back on you. He's probably heard about this pact from his grandmother which is why he never betrayed you, not like the others did.'

'He's a good friend, but I won't put him in danger. Neville lacks confidence, Snape makes it worse. But I need to ask, if for any reason I had to fight him or his lackeys, could I use a muggle weapon?'

'There's no law that says a witch or wizard can't use a muggle weapon. You have the perfect argument, you were raised in the muggle world. You also had a muggleborn mother who had muggle parent's. You are linked to the muggle world and like you said earlier, why should people like you be forced to give up part of who you are? I know you would believe differently if your parent's raised you, but I know Lily would have taught you a lot about the muggle world.'

'I probably wouldn't know any of it if you raised me. But I wouldn't mind, as least I would have had someone who cared to raise me.'

'One day you are going to tell me what those people did.'

'I might, but I've cursed them, using letters. They are going to continuously have bad luck. One day I plan to tell them it was me, but not until they are down and out. I figured it was time for some payback, but I didn't actually curse them or hurt them, they will do it all themselves.'

'That curse was thought to be have been lost centuries ago, so how did you hear of it?'

'A book I found in the room of requirement at Hogwarts, some books were old, really old. Don't tell anyone Sirius, but I have a lot of them here. I wanted to continue learning but I also wanted to learn things that no one else would know. It might give me the edge if I end up in a fight with that lot.'

'I won't tell anyone, but you have to show me these books.'

'I will, maybe as soon as you're officially cleared. But its late Padfoot, I need to make myself some dinner. Keep me informed about your freedom, I might just send a letter to Witch Weekly that could help with getting you free.'

'If you want Pup, but I have a feeling the department of magical law will be checking out my situation. I think I will hear from them very soon, via my cousin who is an auror. I'll call you in a few days, stay safe, and remember, I'll always be here for you.'

'Thanks Sirius, it's good to hear,' Harry closed off the connection. He began to put together his dinner but he also thought about everything Sirius told him. It was time to help get his godfather free.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

It only took a letter to Witch Weekly and to the wizarding wireless network before people were calling for Sirius Black to have a trial with the use of memories and veritaserum, to get to the truth. The department of magical law enforcement began to investigate, but had guaranteed that Sirius Black will not be harmed or sent to Azkaban until he had his trial. Then he would either be free or returned to Azkaban.

Sirius had spoken with his cousin, Tonks. They had organised for the head of the department of magical law, the head auror and two senior aurors to question Sirius before they could set up a trial.

Harry used this time to sneak to Godric's Hollow. He figured with what was going on with Sirius it would keep Dumbledore and Fudge occupied so they wouldn't be out looking for him. Harry did use a muggle wig and had coloured contact lenses to hide his identity, but he also used his cloak. A spell found in one of the books was also used. It would show him any magical person by a faint coloured glow that surrounded the person, and only the person who cast it could see it. Harry didn't want to take the chance that the old man would use Mad-eye-Moody and his creepy eye to see though invisibility cloaks.

Harry got into the house without any problem, he found is parent's wills, but he also found diary's that belonged to both his parent's. He took those but he also decided to take other things, pictures that he could put around his home. But he took things from the kitchen that he knew his parent's had used probably daily. It made him feel closer to his parent's having their things. Harry also decided to take all his father's clothes and shoes. It would save him money and all he needed to do was use magic to make them a little smaller. He had worn Dudley's old things all his life, now he would get to wear his father's. It would also make him feel closer to his father.

Harry was curled up on his sofa reading his mother's diary, he figured he would read his mother's one day and his father's the next. His mother wrote how she was frustrated that she could not use electrical things around magic so she had begun to work on using runes that might work. When Harry read that, he realised it was similar to his idea which also made him realise how much they were alike. He might looked like James Potter but he was more like Lily Potter.

'Harry Potter.'

Harry smiled as he picked up his mirror, 'Hey Padfoot.'

'Hey pup, good news, I'm finally free. Madam Amelia bones organised a trial, without Fudge or anyone in his office having anything to do with it. The moment they gave me veritaserum the truth came out. I'm also going to be compensated for the twelve years I was stuck in Azkaban.'

'That's great Sirius, so you'll be able to go out whenever you want. It will make meeting up safer.'

'So does that mean we can see each other soon?'

'Yep, but you'll have to check you're not being tracked in anyway. Let's give it another couple of weeks then we will work on meeting up, some muggle place.'

'We'll work it. But I have some other news, the finally questioned Barty Crouch senior and junior. It was junior that stole your wand and used it at the world cup. Senior admitted that his wife talked him into saving their son. She took his place in Azkaban, using polyjuice potion, she was dying anyway, which she did two weeks later.'

'He was so against death eaters yet he got his son out of Azkaban,' Harry sighed.

'There's more Harry, Barty was able to get in contact with Voldemort and Peter where they put their plans in order to have Voldemort return. They planned to use you, or your blood. He needed blood of the enemy.'

'So that's why he put my name in the goblet of fire.'

'Yep, Amelia organised the aurors and hit wizards, but she also spoke with the unspeakables. The got them Harry, the unspeakables have what's left of Voldemort. They plan to dispose of him but for now they are doing some tests. Only two unspeakables can get near him and both have given oaths that they do not or ever did support Voldemort. They want to find out how he survived, they have a theory which will probably turn out to be true. They would like a bit of your blood to test it, but for now they are doing every test they can think of.'

'So he's finally gone,' Harry sagged, 'Okay, we have some connection, my scar and those dreams. Mum wrote in her diary that she was working on a way to protect me, using potions and runes. When I went into the house, originally I wasn't going near my old room, it had a lot of damage. But I wanted to see if there was anything that could explain how I survived. Sirius, there were very small runes carved everywhere, from the cot, floor, doorframe, even the roof, you name it they were there. I didn't see them at first, they were so small. I found mum's wand on the floor, under some rubble, as I moved the rubble to get the wand I saw the runes. It made me look all over the place.'

'Albus always said it was love that caused the backlash.'

'He really is thick. Think about it Sirius, Mrs. Weasley would stand in front of her children, I think most parent's would. I've been reading up on the first war with Voldemort and the one with Grindelwald. Many children were killed, along with their parent's. Parents were holding their kids, or doing what my mother did, standing in front of me. If it was as simple as a parent's love and their willing to die to save their kids then those kids would have survived like I did.'

'You're right, I would stand in front of you. I might mention that to the old man so he will know that he's wrong and his wrong more often than he's right. Anyway, the unspeakables believe that since the killing curse hit you first then rebounded onto him, it weakened the spell, enough for his soul to survive but his body to disintegrate, but I will let them know about the runes. It was probably the runes that made his body disintegrate, the killing curse doesn't do that. They might want to go into the house to study.'

'Dumbledore told me he sealed the house so only I can open it, I did open it. But I really don't think the old man would give up a way to get in, if he had too.'

'You're probably right, I will mention that to the unspeakables as well. If they are serious about studying how you survived and need to go into the house then telling them what Albus did might have him questioned. When did you decide to go into the house?'

'I figured since everyone was concentrating on you I would be able to sneak in there. I used my muggle disguise but I also used a spell that would show me up a magical person. There were two, one was a man about sixty, the other was an old woman who could barely move.'

'The man was probably Dedilus Diggle, order member and close to Albus. The woman would be Bathilda Bagshot.'

'The author of Hogwarts a history?'

'Yeah, she lives in Godric's Hollow, and she's really old, about one hundred and twenty or so.'

'Tell the unspeakables that I would let them in the house but I don't want anyone forcing me back to Hogwarts or those muggles. I don't want to have anything to do with a corrupt minister or the old man.'

'I am your legal guardian Harry, so no one will have a say in your life unless I allow it. If you don't want to return to Hogwarts then you don't have to. I made sure I was still your guardian the moment I was free. I wasn't going to take the chance that Albus had somehow removed me as guardian. But I know you want some time pup, and I don't blame you. I just want to see you occasionally, but I also want you to know you can count on me.'

'Thanks Sirius, I know I can,' Harry flicked his wand and showed Sirius the two files, 'My parent's wills, both stated that I was to be raised by certain people, magicals. But I was never to go to Petunia Dursley.'

'Maybe Albus didn't know, but since they were blood he figured you had family.'

'Wrong, he knew, he was one of the witnesses. I plan to send a copy to the magical law enforcement so they can have him charged, with something. He basically went against a magical contract. I'm not playing the good little Gryffindor anymore Sirius, that man is the reason I have a terrible childhood, he needs to pay, someway.'

'Then do it, it might make him realise that not all his decisions are right. But now with me being free and you're guardian, and Voldemort taken care of, will you come out of hiding?'

'I'll see you and people like Neville, but there are still death eaters that would kill me if they got a chance. I need to learn more so I can protect myself. Lucius Malfoy already tried to kill me when I was twelve, he could easily do it again. He could even get his son involved some way. Then you have Snape, he might have changed sides, but he still hates me because I look like my father. I would never trust him, he might decide to do something, even help Malfoy, Draco I mean. He always took the ponces side even with all the evidence pointed to Malfoy causing trouble. I'm learning, but I need a lot more time. I'm sick of facing danger all the time and surviving due to luck, McGonagall called it dumb luck, I think she was right.'

'Then we'll see each other but no one will know. I can always help you learn pup, I was a hit wizard, we didn't always go after dark witches and wizards like aurors but we did our bit and sometimes we got into fights with that lot, especially during the war.'

Harry thought having Sirius train him might just be what he needs. It might give him the edge to keep himself safe and fight off people like Lucius Malfoy. There were still a lot of death eaters around, Voldemort might be gone but it didn't mean the danger was over.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine

Harry made a copy of his parent's will, but he went further. He removed the memory of when Lucius Malfoy tried to kill him. One of the books he found explained he would still retain the memory but it would be harder to access. He decided to use Hedwig this time, mainly because he was sending them to Sirius who he hoped would take them to Madam Bones.

Harry also made an appointment with Madam Bones, but he used the name Orion James. He hoped no one would pick up who Orion James really was. He wanted to be there at the same time as Sirius so the people would concentrate on his godfather and not on him. If he couldn't work it to be there at the same time as Sirius, he would still go. He hoped with his disguises and the name, no one would pick up it was Harry Potter.

Harry used his brown wig, his contacts that made him have brown eyes and he wore good clothes. He was worried about one thing, his wand. The moment he signed in, the wand would give him away, but he couldn't leave it behind. He thought about using one of the wands he found in the room of requirement, but he had no idea what the names were. Then he got an idea, Ron used Bill's old wand and Neville used his fathers, he could say he was given a relatives wand, but he didn't know which relative. If the person at the security desk said a name then Harry would explain if it was a grandfather, grandmother or he might even go with great grandparents.

Harry made sure he looked nothing like Harry Potter, then he apparated away from his home.

He got through the visitors entrance then over to the security desk, 'Wand.'

Harry held out the wand, hoping nothing would go wrong.

'This was in use one hundred and ten years ago until recently. It has now been used for three months.'

'Yeah, it was passed down through the family, it works so I didn't bother buying a new wand.'

'It happens more often than you think,' the man handed Harry a receipt and his wand.

'Thank you,' Harry gave him a smile then walked away. He got into the lifts then heard the voice explain the departments and which floors they were on. He pushed level one which would take him to the department of magical law enforcement. He knew he had to be careful as level one also held the office of the minister for magic.

'Hello, I'm Orion James, I have an appointment.'

'Of course, take a seat and I will let Madam Bones know you're here.'

Harry nodded then sat down. He picked up a magazine, it was Witch Weekly, but it was six months old. That made Harry chuckle as he realised the magical world was like the muggle world, in some ways.

'You can go in now Mr. James, second door on the right.'

'Thank you,' Harry walked down the corridor, he took a deep breath before knocking on the door. He heard a female voice call to come in, so he did, closing the door behind him, 'Thank you for seeing me, Madam Bones.'

Amelia stared up at the young man, 'This office is protected, so no one can hear anything nor can any type of recording device be snuck in. Saying that I believe you can be your true self…Mr Potter.'

Harry sighed, but he removed the wig, then his contacts, 'I didn't want to be recognised.'

'After hearing from your godfather, I do not blame you. I will tell you that I sent a very angry letter to my niece about you. I could not believe she would believe you entered that tournament yourself or had someone enter you.'

'I get why the Hufflepuff's were angry, they finally had one of the own outshine the rest of the school, then my name was announced. Being the-boy-who-lived already got me attention that I didn't want.'

'Take a seat and explain why you are here.'

'What I sent Sirius. My life as a boy growing up with those muggles wasn't nice. I want Dumbledore to be charged, with something. He had no right to put me there and even if he did, he didn't even bother to ask if they wanted me. They left me on the doorstep with a note stuck to me explaining what happened.'

'He will be charged, the moment I saw the copy of your parent's wills I knew he would face charges. But you can't be serious about the doorstep.'

'I am ma'am, Hagrid told me in my second year. He had been drinking, after he was released from Azkaban. I wanted to make sure he was okay so I snuck down to his hut. I tried to get him to stop drinking, then he began to talk about the night he took me from the house, on Dumbledore's orders. Sirius turned up that night, he told Hagrid to hand me over, but Hagrid refused because the old man told him I had to go to him. I don't blame Hagrid, he was just following his bosses orders.'

'Hagrid will be questioned, but I doubt I will be charging him. I do know how he feels about Albus Dumbledore. So tell me, Hagrid removed you from the house then took you to Albus, where was he?'

'At the Dursley's, with McGonagall, they left me there and then just walked away. I know I could have let Sirius handle this, I just needed to hear if anything could be done.'

'Then as I said, he will be charged, with abduction, he will also be charged with going against a legal binding contract, your parent's wills. I will say this, he will lose his job as chief warlock of the Wizengamot. You cannot uphold the law and break it when you see fit.'

'No, he can't, if he did it once, he might feel like doing it again.'

'Exactly, now, the memory, yes I viewed it then showed it to the head auror, Mr. Robards. He sent four aurors to arrest Lucius Malfoy for attempted murder. Who was the house elf?'

'Dobby, he used to belong to the Malfoy's, but I saw him hurting Dobby. I know what it's like to be bullied and victimised, so I tricked Malfoy into freeing him. Dobby's at Hogwarts now, but he always wants to help me. He knows I left, he visits occasionally.'

'People like Lucius Malfoy do not believe house elves are worth knowing, yet they forget that house elves have powerful magic. I planned to have Sirius contact you. When Lucius Malfoy is on trial, you will need to appear, but I will be asking to show your memory along with using the truth potion. He got away last time, I am not allowing him to get away again. Now that the unspeakables have Voldemort, I want to make sure those that joined him of their own free will get locked up.'

'They could still be dangerous even if Voldemort is gone. I know the unspeakables want to talk to me, and take my blood. They want to find out how he survived, how I survived. I think I know how I survived and it could be linked to how he did.'

'If you want to go now to the department of mysteries, I can escort you, in disguise to the. I would very much like to know how you survived the killing curse.'

'Runes,' Harry shrugged, 'I went into the house while Sirius was having his trial. At first I wasn't going to go into my old room, but I just felt I had to. I found my mother's wand under some rubble, that's when I saw the runes on the floor. I looked around and runes were carved everywhere. It was on the cot, the floor, ceiling, even the door and door frame. Sirius said my mother was brilliant at runes, along with charms and potions.'

'Yes, from what I heard, she was. So how about we head to the department of mysteries?'

Harry nodded, he put his contact back in then made sure his brown wig was sitting right. He followed Madam Bones through the ministry until they came to the department of mysteries.

'Madam Bones, what can we do for you today?'

'I am just accompanying this young man to see you as he heard you wish to speak with him. Can we go into your office before I explain who he is?'

The tall robed figured stared at Harry for a few minutes before he nodded then led the way through his department. The moment the door shut Harry removed the wig and his contacts.

'Mr. Potter, you surprise me. I scanned you yet I did not detect any type of disguise.'

'I don't mean to sound rude, but did you scan for muggle disguises?'

'No, I did not, so the wig and those plastic discs you removed from your eyes are muggle made?'

'Yes, the discs are contact lenses, it's so people who don't want to wear glasses but they have to so they get these. But they make them in different colours. They even make them so you could look like you have cat's eyes or gold, black, even red eyes.'

'Very clever, I always believed muggles were a lot smarter than people believe.'

'They are, very advanced in many ways, compared to the magical world,' Harry pulled out his mobile phone, 'I only bought this as I intended to give one to Sirius and my friend Neville. It will allow us to ring and talk each other no matter where we are. I found my mother's diary, she missed many muggle items when she joined this world. It took her more than a year but she found a way to use many muggle items without magic causing any problem. This has a battery, she worked on charging the battery with a charm and some runes. Once it worked she began to do the same with other battery run devices,' Harry held out a piece of parchment, 'That's the information. I figured if I was sneaking into the ministry then I might just end up here to give you a sample of my blood, since Sirius mentioned it.'

Amelia watched the unspeakable read the parchment, but it instantly made her curious about this mobile phone. If they could work around a place like the ministry, it would make communicating with anyone easier, and faster.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten

The unspeakable was very interested with how Lily Potter made muggle items work around magic, but so was Madam Bones. They believed others would like to be able to use things like phones and if they worked this so the public could use them then they would make sure Harry was paid a percentage for his part, even if it was his mother's idea.

'Let me take some of your blood, then I can begin my tests.'

'Okay, but as I told Sirius, I think I know how I survived and why he's soul survived. In my old room at Godric's Hollow are runes, they are carved everywhere. I didn't study runes until recently, so I don't know much about them. I just realised that if my mother went to so much trouble then it makes sense it's the reason I survived. Now I felt the magic when I touched the main door of the house, Sirius believed Dumbledore worked some type of magic to prevent anyone entering the house. Since it opened to me, he must have connected it to me in some way.'

'I would say it was done with your blood. To have that scar meant your head was cut open that night, so there would have been blood. If you will allow it, I would very much like to study these runes.'

'Yes, sir, that's why I mentioned it. I just might need to open it for you. I'm not sure if it will otherwise.'

'I will organise for us to meet when I can get away. Now as I understand it, you have some type of connection that affects your scar. Can you describe what you feel?'

'Pain is one, when I was near the spirit of Voldemort during my first year at Hogwarts it would burn, then I would end up with one hell of a headache. The other is dreams, but it's not a normal dream. Before I was picked up by the Weasley's to go to the quidditch world cup, the dream I had was of two men speaking with someone they called my lord. Now one of the men was Peter Pettigrew, I didn't know who the other man was. There was a snake there, called Nagini, I heard a voice talking to her, in parseltongue. The house was big, old, muggle and very dirty, and dusty.'

'That is the house we found Voldemort and Peter in, I would say the other man was Barty Crouch junior. The snake was killed when it attacked my people. I gave the report to the unspeakables,' Amelia said, 'Sounds like it wasn't a dream, you somehow saw what was really happening at the time.'

'What were the men talking about?'

'Me, they had plans, one was to get me for my blood. Peter said something about using some other enemy as I would be too protected to get hold of. Voldemort said it had to be me. When I was thinking about that, I mentioned it to Sirius, we think he wanted me not just because I was the one that made him disappear, but I had some protection in my blood, thanks to my mother. You see sir, Voldemort was possessing Quirrell in my first year, when he touched me, it hurt him. When he tried to kill me, I grabbed hold of him and didn't let go. Quirrell screamed, then he just disintegrated, this smoky stuff came out of him, it screamed before I ended up unconscious. Dumbledore told me that Voldemort can't touch me due to my mother's sacrifice, it caused him pain.'

'So you do have some type of protection thanks to your mother, but it is connected to these runes. The story that Albus Dumbledore has told us is wrong. He may believe it but we know that your mother just sacrificing herself for you would not have destroyed Voldemort's body nor keep you alive at the same time. Now you mentioned the runes, it makes more sense,' the unspeakable stared at Harry for a minute before he gestured for Harry and Amelia to sit, 'What I am about to tell you is strictly confidential, and dangerous. So please do not mentioned this to anyone.'

'I promise to stay quiet about this sir,' Harry said.

'You have my word I will not communicate in any way about this information,' Amelia said.

'Yes, Lily Potter is the reason you survived Mr. Potter, and why he did not die that night. It was also Voldemort that cause his survival even if it was just his soul. He used a very dark ritual to almost guarantee he would never die. He split his soul and placed those parts of himself into items. He still cannot truly die until every piece of his soul has been found and destroyed. As of yet, we have not be able to determine how many he made. He is not human so veritaserum does not work on him. We're hoping that our examinations will determine how many he made. It is the reason why I wanted some of your blood, since you did survive and you do have some type of connection. It may be the answers we need.'

'There may be something,' Harry's brow furrowed, 'Did you hear about what happened in my second year at Hogwarts?'

'We were informed that there was some type of monster that petrified some students. We could never get any type of information on what that monster was, only that it was taken care of.'

'It was a basilisk, I killed it in the chamber of secrets. You see sir, Ginny Weasley was possessed by a cursed diary that had once belonged to Voldemort. Lucius Malfoy slipped it to her when we were shopping for our Hogwarts things. Ginny kept writing in it and the more she did the more it was draining the life out of her. By the time I got to the chamber she was almost dead. Tom Riddle, or Voldemort, was there, he was almost solid. He looked to be about seventeen years old and dressed in his Hogwarts uniform, he even had his head boy badge on his robe. As I killed the basilisk,' Harry pulled up his sleeve to show the scar, 'it bit me, but I made it back to Ginny, who was dying. When Voldemort said he was just going to stand there and watch me die, something inside me told me what to do. I still had the fang that pieced my arm, I used it and stabbed the diary. Voldemort screamed like he was in pain, a lot of pain, he turned smoky before he vanished,' Harry turned to Madam Bones, 'I used that diary to help free Dobby. I asked Dumbledore if I could return it to Malfoy, but he seemed to know I was planning something. I raced after Malfoy then thrust the diary into Malfoy's hands, he shoved it at Dobby, I told him to open it. Dobby found my old sock, but since Malfoy handed it to him, it set him free. Dumbledore has the diary again. He told me the diary was enchanted so someone would open the chamber of secrets and release Slytherin's monster so it could finish off what it was supposed to do, kill muggleborns. It was luck that none of them were killed, only petrified.'

'The diary was not just enchanted to possess someone, it was also a vessel for a piece of Voldemort's soul. I will need to retrieve the diary so I can study it. I thank you for that bit of information Mr. Potter. But I am curious, how did you survive basilisk venom?'

'Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix. It flew down the first time to peck out the basilisks eyes. The second time he dropped the sorting hat, I pulled the sword of Gryffindor out of the hat. When I was dying, I could feel it, feel myself dying, Fawkes came back and used his tears.'

'Then why the hell didn't Albus have his phoenix take him into the chamber when the first student was attacked?' Amelia growled.

'Yes, a phoenix can by pass any type of enchantment. But as the chamber wasn't warded, it only needed to be opened by a parselmouth. The phoenix could have easily fire travelled into the chamber, and taken someone with him.'

'Fawkes took me, Ginny, Ron and Lockhart out, I was holding his tail. Ginny was holding me, then Ron and Lockhart was last. He flew us up the pipes to the bathroom on the second floor, then he led us to McGonagall's office. What gets me sir, ma'am, is how Dumbledore didn't know what it was. I mean a giant snake was moving around the castle, the ghosts or the portraits must have seen it.'

'You make a valid point Mr. Potter. I believe Madam Bones should find the answer to that question.'

'I will, but I am going to hit that man with more charges. He put the lives of every student and staff at risk. They should have evacuated the castle then sealed it until it could be searched. If it wasn't for Mr. Potter, we could have lost more students, we could have lost all of them. If that happened it would have devastated our world.'

'Yes, Mr. Potter saved the lives of hundreds. Tell me young man, were you awarded for your efforts and heroism?'

'Dumbledore said Ron and I would have an award for special services to the school. I don't really like that plaque, it's the same one that Voldemort was given when he was a student at Hogwarts.'

The unspeakable and Amelia stared at Harry then at each other, they nodded. It was time this boy was given a proper award for the lives he saved.

The unspeakable took some of Harry's blood, then made a copy of the information on how to have muggle items work around magic. He explained to Harry that he would contact him soon so he could study the runes in the house. Just before Madam Bones was going to take Harry back to the atrium, the unspeakable asked if Harry wouldn't mind going with him to see Voldemort. He wanted to know how Harry felt when they were close. Harry figured it just might help in some way, so even though he didn't want to see Voldemort, he decided to do it.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter eleven

The moment the unspeakable lead Harry and Amelia into the room where Voldemort was, the dark wizard began yelling at Harry. The unspeakable silenced him then gestured for Harry to approach. The moment he was a few feet away Harry's hand went straight to his scar as it began to burn. The unspeakable quickly did some spells over Harry before moving the boy back. He handed Harry a pain potion then they went back to his office.

'I'm sorry you had to go through that Mr. Potter.'

'It's fine sir, plus your pain potion works a lot better than the one Pomfrey gives me. Do you know why I get the pain and see things?'

'I do now,' the unspeakable sighed but he caught Amelia's concerned look, 'It seems when he tried to kill you, he planned to split his soul again or his soul was so unstable that a piece broke away on its own. Since his body disintegrated the soul he split was left there, it needed to find a way to survive, it found you.'

'Oh god, he can't die unless I have to. That's what the old man's plan is. He made sure my life was terrible so I would be willing to die.'

'I'm very sorry Mr Potter. But there is some good news it just might take a while to set up. We have a room here in the department of mysteries that has most of us confused as we have no idea what it does. All we know is that when you step into the room you feel emotions, love, for the people you care about. The more you feel for someone the room fills you with every wonderful feeling in the world. Your mother went to a lot of trouble to make sure you survived. That shows that she loved you deeply. I believe if you were to step into the room, the love your mother, and father had for you will force the soul out of you. Voldemort is not human, he does not believe in human emotions, he only believes in power. He hates everyone, which means the room filled with love will break the connection, a connection that gets stronger by negative emotions, like hate.'

'I've had a headache now for weeks, until your potion. It started when my name came out of the goblet of fire. From then on I was fighting with half the students at Hogwarts, but I was also beginning to hate most of the staff. My anger is making the connection stronger.'

'Yes, it is. I will need a few days to set this up. If I could Madam Bones, I would like you to escort Mr Potter here again when I have everything ready.'

'Could my godfather join us, at least here, not in that room?'

'Of course. I will send you an owl.'

'I can't receive owls, I had the goblins ward my place. But I gave Sirius a mirror that is connected to mine, you could send him the owl then he could contact me.'

'Two way mirror's?' Amelia's eyebrows rose.

'Yeah, I found the information in an old book. But Sirius said he and my dad had a pair when they were students. Every time they had separate detentions they would use the mirrors to talk and plan pranks.'

'I will like to have the name of the book, if you wouldn't mind. Those mirrors will come in handy, especially around here.'

Harry knew he couldn't tell the truth, 'Um, well, it's really old, I found it in the house. It was published over seven hundred years ago. I can send you the name, but I can copy the page with the charm on it if you want, in case the book might be hard to find.'

'That would be wonderful, thank you Mr. Potter.'

Just before Harry was due to leave, the unspeakable gave Harry permission to tell his godfather what they had been talking about. The unspeakable knew this young man needed someone, he needed to feel like there was someone there for him. That someone was Sirius Black.

They said goodbye to the unspeakable then Harry put his wig back on then put his contacts in. Amelia escorted Harry back to the atrium where he could floo to the Leaky Cauldron or apparate to a designated area. Harry explained that he could apparate, but he knew if he tried to get in to get a license, someone might inform Dumbledore or the minister. He didn't want to be forced to return to Hogwarts. Amelia was going to work on the license the day Harry returned to the department of mysteries.

The moment Harry got home he used the mirror to call Sirius, then explained everything that happened at the department of mysteries. Sirius ended up cursing Dumbledore's name and threatened to actually curse the man. It took Harry a while to calm his godfather down, and he only did when he told Sirius it was time to see each other.

Sirius apparated a dozen times before he arrived at apparition spot near where he would meet Harry. He checked himself again to make sure there were no tracking charms of any type attached to him, only when it came up negative did he make his way to Harry.

Harry smiled as he saw Padfoot running towards him. Just before Padfoot got close he changed then Sirius was hugging his godson.

'I missed you Paddy,' Harry said, his voice croaky.

'I missed you too Prongslet.'

'Let's get inside,' Harry was a little embarrassed as he wiped the tears from his face. He led Sirius through the wards and into the house.

'Nice place.'

'Yeah, it might be small but it's mine.'

'Size doesn't matter Pup, you've made a nice home for yourself, it's cosy.'

Harry made some tea and sandwiches then sat opposite Sirius at the table, 'Madam Bones is going to charge the old man.'

'Yes, she explained when I showed her how the mirror's work.'

Harry summoned the book, then made a copy of the page, then wrote the name of the book on the bottom of the page.

'I said I would give her this. But she and the unspeakable seemed interested in the mobile phone. I gave the unspeakable a copy of how my mother made them work. But I realised something after I left. Now the Leaky Cauldron is right there in London. The door and wall of the pub is the only thing that separates the magic being used in the pub with the muggle side. Now on one side of the Leaky Cauldron is a music shop, which uses electricity, just like the street lights. How do they work when the magic is just on the other side of the wall?'

'Good question and one I doubt anyone has asked before. I know the ministry is below the street, maybe it's down far enough so the magic doesn't affect the muggle items.'

'I thought of that as well. Under the streets are where they keep all the wires and pipes. I'm sure there are electrical cables running near or around the ministry. There has to be something we're missing. Do you know when it was discovered that magic would affect electrical items?'

'No, I have no idea, it's just always been known.'

'It's just strange that a place like the Leaky Cauldron which have many using magic doesn't affect the shop right next to it. When I left the ministry I went into London, I was mainly getting some more food. But I went into the music shop, I even used my cloak and stood near the Leaky Cauldron and the shop. I can usually feel the magic when I move from the muggle world into the magical world. It was like a tingle over my skin, but I never felt anything while I was standing between those two places.'

'Powerful people will feel magic, it's like wards. If you pass through an enchantment that Hogwarts has then they feel it.'

'Yeah, I did after the goblins enchanted this place. But back to what I was saying. Maybe magic doesn't cause problems Sirius, maybe someone spread those rumours to stop people like muggleborns showing purebloods just what they are missing out on. I mean if half the purebloods at Hogwarts saw a game console or a video, they would want them in their homes, I know Ron would.'

'You can show me these things later. But you may be right, it's always been that muggle items won't work around magic. It's like traditions, this or that has always been done this way but with some, I never found out when some traditions began. We might just have to test this theory.'

'Yeah, I would like to. But I have a phone for you anyway, and I was hoping you could give one to Neville, then explain how to use it. I know I have to show you, but they aren't that difficult and it comes with instructions. But now onto the serious shit and the reason Dumbledork made sure my life wasn't worth living.'

'Amelia said you would have something serious to talk to me about. So tell me.'

'Right now Voldemort can't officially die.'

'He made a horcrux?'

'The unspeakable didn't say the name, just that he separated his soul and place them in items. The diary I stabbed when I was twelve was one. But Sirius,' Harry took his godfather's hand then placed his finger over the lightning shaped scar, 'I piece went into me, that's why I feel pain when I'm near him, why I had that vision before the quidditch world cup.'

'No, no, I just got you back.'

'It's fine Sirius, the unspeakables said there is a way to remove it without killing me. There is some room at the department of mysteries, it's to do with love, emotions, positive emotions. He's going to set it up, Madam Bones will contact you so you can use the mirror to contact me. I want you with me that day, even if you can't go into the room.'

'I'll be with you, from now on. How big is the land here? Is it enough to have another cabin built for me?'

Harry grinned at Sirius then grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hallway to a room with the door closed. He smiled again then opened the door.

'I set this up for you Sirius. We can finally be a family. I also figured we could work on enlarging the place so we've got more room.'

Sirius wrapped his arms around his godson as he stared into the bedroom Harry had decorated for him. It was done in tans, and browns, and looked very relaxing. It was time for Sirius to become the father to Harry Potter, just like James and Lily wanted. It was time they became a family.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

Sirius quickly left to go pack his things. He had everything he owned packed in an old trunk, it was shrunk down and in his pocket within minutes. He was about to leave when Remus turned up. Sirius had to act innocent so he sat with his old friend and talked. Even though Sirius didn't believe Remus would go running to Dumbledore if he knew Sirius had been in contact with Harry, Sirius was not going to take the chance. He would never do anything that could make Harry lose his trust in him.

It took a few hours but finally Remus left. Sirius once again checked for any type of tracking charm, then apparated to a dozen places before he was back with Harry. He unpacked then helped Harry with dinner while he explained about Remus. After dinner Harry showed Sirius a few movies, Sirius couldn't take his eyes off the television. When he saw a naked woman, his mouth dropped open then he just sat wide eyed as he watched the movie. Harry couldn't stop laughing at his godfather's face. He hadn't felt this happy in a long time. But now he was living with his godfather, he hoped they had many happy moments like this.

The following day Harry and Sirius decided to experiment. Harry used his muggle disguise while Sirius used a glamour charm. They went into Diagon alley and found out that the muggle items worked.

'Maybe it's the batteries, but it still doesn't explain how the music shop has things that work on electricity when it's right next to the Leaky Cauldron. I didn't feel any type of ward on the outside, so it's not enchanted,' Harry said.

'I think it's what we said, someone didn't want a muggleborn showing purebloods all the muggle items. Electricity has been around for a while, so I would say someone or even a few people worked on a rumour that those things won't work around magic. Since places like this isn't connected to electricity, the most anyone can do is use items that work on batteries.'

'Yeah, and the charm mum did means the battery doesn't go flat, or wear out.'

'Let's go, even though we're disguised I wouldn't like to get found out.'

Harry and Sirius did a bit of shopping while they were there then headed home. Sirius sent his mirror to Amelia Bones, that way she could contact him or Harry when the unspeakables were ready.

It was a couple of days later that Harry was once again in his muggle disguise with Sirius also using a muggle wig. They walked through the atrium where they met up with Amelia who escorted them to the department of magical transport. She had organised for Harry to take his apparition test, without the testers knowing who Harry was. She even told them to leave the space for the name, empty. She would fill it in herself. She explained that the person was under her protection. Harry passed straight away, the tester filled out the form but left the name off the license before he handed it to Madam Bones. She passed her wand over the license and filled in Harry's name then handed it to him. They left that department and headed to the department of mysteries.

'Welcome back Mr. Potter.'

'Thanks,' Harry gave a small smile, 'This is my godfather, Lord Sirius Black.'

'Lord black, welcome.'

Sirius shook the unspeakables hand, 'Thank you, but it's just Sirius, even if I never am. So how does this work?'

'This room is where we study love. And love is one emotion that Voldemort does not have. Three nights ago, while we were getting ready to head home for the night, Voldemort began to scream. He was in pain yet we have no idea why. We believed it has something to do with you Harry.'

Harry smiled as he looked at his godfather, 'I showed Sirius some movies, it was hilarious to see his face. I couldn't stop laughing.'

'Then this room will definitely work. You caused him pain just because you were happy. The moment you step into the room, it will bring out all the positive emotions you have, especially any feelings of love you have for a person, or people.'

'I only love Sirius, he's like my father.'

'Then you will feel that love multiplied by a hundred, if not more. But if you care about others, those feelings will surface as well.'

'This won't hurt Harry, will it?' Sirius asked.

'The only part that may cause him discomfort is when the love he is feeling forces that piece of soul out of him. But I believe the love will also protect him from most if not all of that. This is a unique situation, so we are unsure how this will play out. Harry will be fine, we do know that, but we have a healer standing by. That is mainly to examine him after, but it's always best to be ready for anything. So are you ready Harry?'

'Past ready sir,' Harry turned to Sirius, 'Either way Sirius it has to be done so he can die. We can't take the chance that something could happen where he returns properly or escapes.'

'I know Pup, I just hate that you have to go through any more,' Sirius hugged his godson then kissed his head, 'I'll be right here when you're done.'

The unspeakable gestured for Harry to walk through the door, 'Once you close the door, move to the centre of the circle. It should not take long.'

'Is someone watching Voldemort?'

'Yes, my partner is keeping a close eye on him and documenting anything he does or says.'

Harry nodded, looked once more at Sirius then stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

'I hate that he has to go through anything else.'

'I understand Sirius, especially since I've been investigating. I cannot believe the rest of the staff went along with Albus. There were dozens of cases where Harry was placed in danger, he also suffered a lot of emotional distress, yet not one member of staff went to his aide. When I'm done I can almost guarantee that most if not all will lose their jobs.'

'I'm sure he used something to make them all cooperate, except Minerva, Snape and Hagrid. Those three are extremely loyal to Albus, the rest seem to just want to do their jobs. But Harry has told me a few things, I doubt half the staff were informed about everything.'

'That is why I am still investigating. Once I'm done I will arrest Albus then I can question the rest of the staff.'

'Make sure Snape is sacked. I can't believe what Harry told me yet I know it's true. That bastard made Harry and many other kids lives miserable. But he's also destroying their dreams by not actually teaching potions.'

'All applicants to my department failed their potions tests. Since some passed everything else, I had them tutored in potions so they could join the department. I found out that St Mungo's did the same when they found applicants that would make great healers, they just couldn't make potions.'

'Do you think he was deliberately sabotaging everyone's efforts to stop them getting work?'

'I had the same thought. The only students who pass their N.E.W.T. potions are Slytherin, with the odd purebloods that were in Ravenclaw. Not one Hufflepuff or Gryffindor has past their potion N.E.W.T. since he began teaching. The trouble with that is, those Slytherin's do not want to be aurors, hit wizards or healers, so we have less people applying for jobs in my department.'

'I can't believe Albus would allow this, yet he is.'

'He knows, I just do not understand why he allows Snape to get away with everything.'

'What the hell,' Sirius yelled as the room began to shake.

'It's fine Mr black, right at this moment the soul would be leaving your godson. This is powerful magic, the love Harry is feeling and the dark magic that the horcrux is, they're competing, but love will always win. I do not know if you have ever been in love, but if you have then you know it can make you do things you couldn't imagine doing. It blinds you so all you can think about is that person and what they want. You want to make them happy, you want to make sure that the love you share will never die. You will literally do anything for the person you love.'

'I've never been in love, but I loved James like a brother. I mean I loved him as I loved Regulus, until my brother took up with the death eaters. I loved Harry from the moment Lily placed him in my arms. I would die to protect him, I would have done the same for James and Lily. But I get what you mean because I would do anything, and I mean anything to keep Harry safe and happy. He deserves it.'

'I feel the same about Susan. She may not have had the life Harry has, but to me, she deserves to be happy. I think of her as my daughter, and I would die if I knew she would survive.'

'That's what Harry was talking about, why the old man is just off his tree. Any parent's, or should I say most parent's would sacrifice themselves to protect their child, just like Lily did. If it was just that then many of the children that died during the first war with Voldemort would have survived like Harry survived.'

'Exactly, when Harry explained about the runes carved around his bedroom, I knew then it was Lily and the runes that protect Harry.'

The unspeakable, Sirius and Amelia turned when the room was flooded with light, bright white light. Harry was standing at the door, glowing. His whole body was bathed in brilliant white light. The three adults would say it was pure light and they were seeing his aura. If a muggle saw Harry right now they would believe he was an angel, sent to them to protect. The three adults felt happy, they felt safe, they felt that they were protected from all the dangers of the world. Whatever is was that Harry Potter was doing, gave them hope for the future of their world.

The unspeakable in the other room was watching as Voldemort screamed. Six times he screamed, each scream would last minutes. As he screamed black smoke appeared before it dissipated. When each horcrux was destroyed, Voldemort would again scream but this time he was screaming at Harry Potter to stop, to spare him. The unspeakable wanted to laugh. There was the dark lord Voldemort, begging the-boy-who-lived to save his life.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen

The following morning after the death of Voldemort, Sirius got a call on his mirror from Amelia Bones. It seems that the dark mark wasn't just so Voldemort could call his death eaters, he had linked them to him in some way. Every person that had the dark mark had died when Voldemort died. Sirius knew it was good news, and he knew Harry would feel the same. But it was also sad news that so many children would not have their father, or mother, or maybe both. Sirius just hoped that this news didn't have these children causing trouble. Amelia did say they would be keeping an eye on the children of death eaters, just to make sure they weren't going to cause any trouble.

Sirius watched Harry over the last two weeks since he stepped out of the room of love in the department of mysteries. Not once has Harry been down or angry. He just seemed to be happy all the time. Another thing he noticed was he had a very big growth spurt that first night. But what surprised Sirius most of all was the power Harry had. Sirius would show Harry a spell and Harry did it, but the power he used was a hundred times more power than Sirius had. They had to keep practicing outside until Harry was able to learn to lower his power level. Right now if Harry used a stunner on a person they could end up dead, not just knocked unconscious. They didn't want to test it, so they weren't sure exactly what would happen if Harry stunned someone using his full power.

There was two things Harry said that he liked more than anything. Ever since he left the room of love, he didn't need glasses anymore and his lighting shaped scar was gone, completely. The unspeakable said since the killing curse was a clean spell then the scar was caused by Voldemort's soul entering Harry, not the killing curse. The moment the soul left, the scar began to heal until you could not tell there had ever been a scar on his forehead. It's also the reason why Harry had the growth spurt, the soul leaving him and the room of love healed his body from the Dursley's mistreatment.

They got a call from Amelia who explained that she was leading a team of twenty aurors to Hogwarts. They would arrest Albus Dumbledore. But they would also begin to question the staff. One thing she had organised, any student thirteen years or older would be questioned using veritaserum. It was time to make sure there are no wannabe death eaters or future dark lords that could hurt or kill innocent students. It would also allow the aurors to know if any of their parents were death eaters, and wanted to be. The death eaters might be dead, but they wanted the truth about how they became death eaters in the first place.

'Do you think he will end up losing his job at Hogwarts?'

'Yes, for how much danger he put you through, but also the other students could have been killed. That's just about the basilisk. Then you add how he allowed Snape to mistreat students, which again would have him removed as headmaster. I just hope that the governors do not give Minerva the job.'

'Things wouldn't change if she was head. I never had trouble with Sprout, Hooch or Flitwick. But I did hear that a girl in Ravenclaw was being bullied by her house mates, they even stole her belongings, yet nothing was done to stop it. Neville said the girl would make up things about why her shoes would go missing. He told me she is called looney because she always talks about animals no one has ever heard about or seen. We both believe she uses that as a defence mechanism.'

'Filius might not have been informed. I don't think he is someone that would put up with bullies. He gets a bad rap because he's half goblin.'

'I've seen the way some of those purebloods like Malfoy look at him. Maybe you're right, he doesn't know because the ones like prefects are also in on the bullying.'

'Write to Flitwick, explain what you heard from a friend.'

'I might, then at least if he doesn't do anything we would know he was just as bad as the others. But I think you're right, I don't think he knows, if he did he would do something.'

'Harry Potter.'

Harry turned towards his mirror which was vibrating, 'Hello sir.'

'Hello. I was hoping that you would take me to the house right now. With Madam Bones being at Hogwarts, it would mean Albus Dumbledore could not interfere if he has some way of detecting a presence at the house.'

'He does have members of the order of the phoenix watching the place, but with the two of us with Harry they will not be able to touch him,' Sirius said.

'Then now would be the perfect time. Would you like us to meet you in Godric's Hollow?' Harry asked.

'Yes, make it twenty minutes and we will meet at the front of the church.'

'We'll be there.'

'Let's hope he figures out what my mother did. It could end up saving lives.'

'They will work it Pup until they do figure it out.'

Harry and Sirius got their thick cloaks, and their wands before they stepped out of the house. Harry had the goblins leave a small section unwarded so he could apparate. The muggles wouldn't see anything as it was still covered by the muggle repelling wards.

The staff and students at Hogwarts were shocked that Albus Dumbledore was being arrested. Amelia had to explain to the two visiting schools that the triwizard tournament has been officially cancelled, which meant the champions would not be bound by the contract. The committee had decided to give the three students equal share of the thousand galleons. Amelia explained to the visiting schools that they could leave when they were ready. Amelia put Pomona Sprout in charge until the governors decided on a new headmaster, or headmistress. When some of the staff said that Minerva should be given the job, Amelia explained that the governors had already passed her over due to her loyalty to Albus Dumbledore.

The students were told that classes were cancelled for the next week while the aurors investigated. Amelia ignored the questions on why an investigation was being done.

Neville got Luna's attention, they left the great hall and went to the room of requirement.

'I would say all this or part of this is because of Harry.'

'He finally told someone what has been going on at Hogwarts. I also think it's why no one has seen Snape in a couple of weeks.'

'I would say you're right. Whenever anyone asked they never got an answer. But now we just have to wait and see what happens.'

'Do you think we will be needing new teachers?'

'Definitely, I saw the look Bones gave McGonagall. I don't think she will be here much longer. She always agreed with Dumbledore even when she saw that Harry was being harassed. They are supposed to look out for us since we live here, they act like our guardians yet she never did anything to help us with Snape. He might be gone, but why would Dumbledore allow Snape to act like that?'

'It's not just Snape Neville, we do not have very good teachers is other subjects. We are not learning what we need.'

'I wonder if it's deliberate, but again, why?'

Neville and Luna fell silent, both trying to work out why the headmaster of Hogwarts was allowing substandard teaching.

Harry and Sirius were downstairs while the unspeakable was working up in Harry's old room. Sirius began to tell stories about when he spent time in the house with James, Lily and Harry. Harry couldn't stop smiling as he listened to his godfather.

Harry and Sirius turned when they heard the unspeakable coming down the stairs.

'I must say Harry, your mother was absolutely brilliant. If it wasn't for how the ministry is run, I would have liked her to work for me. She found a way to deflect the killing curse back onto the attacker. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.'

'So all those times I watched Lily going through books and racing up the stairs was to protect from the killing curse?'

'Yes, but she added Harry's magical signature as she carved the runes which protected him, not her.'

'Why would she only protect me and not her and my father?'

'Time Pup, when they were told that Voldemort had targeted you, it was only a few months before he turned up. I would say Lily would have done the whole house if she had time.'

'It's true Harry. What I saw in your old room would have taken months to carve and enchant. When each section of rune was carved she would need to activate that section then connect it to you. Depending on the strength of your mother's magical core, I would say the door frame alone would have exhausted her. She would have needed a good night's sleep, maybe even a day before she could continue.'

'I have her diary, but there is nothing in them about this. So do you think you could work with this so you can protect people from the killing curse?'

'I do, I will just need to find a way to make it work without adding someone's magical signature. There is one bit I am puzzled about which the runes don't explain. How she connected your magical signature to her rune enchantment.'

'What if she drew runes on Harry, would that connect it?'

'I don't believe just drawing it would be powerful enough. Runes need to be carved into the items that are going to be enchanted.'

Harry's brow furrowed, 'Um, I never really studied them, and for a long time I thought I got them from the Dursley's. But I have these little scars, in strange places. Under my arms, my groin, behind my knees and I think there's some on the back of my head and behind my ears,' Harry held out his hands, fingers spread, 'And here, between each finger.'

Sirius and the unspeakable carefully examined the little scars between Harry's fingers. The unspeakable then looked behind Harry's ears. The rest of him was covered up.

'This is it, this is how Lily Potter protected you from the killing curse. These are runes Harry and all the runes, once activated deflected the killing curse onto Voldemort. If it wasn't for his soul vessels he would have died that night. Your mother was quite extraordinary. If I can narrow this down somehow, then all we may need is one or two runes carved somewhere on our bodies then we can all be protected. It may take me a while but I believe I can work this. And the world will know it's thanks to a young muggleborn woman that one of the worst dark curses in our world will be made obsolete.'

Harry grinned hugely. Apart from feeling proud and happy for what his mother had done. He also knew this would make those snotty purebloods sit up and take notice. They might even realise that their discrimination against muggleborns meant they were missing out on ways to stop people dying, or being cursed into madness. That is one thing Harry would like to work on, stop the cruciatus curse from causing pain and sending those people to the mind damage ward at St Mungo's. Maybe studying his mother's notes might just help him find a way to stop the three unforgivables altogether.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen

As Amelia was questioning Albus Dumbledore about his plans for Harry and Voldemort, the unspeakable appeared beside her.

'You never did learn to listen to others, others that are wiser that you are. What you don't know Albus is that thanks to Harry Potter, every single soul vessel that Voldemort had was destroyed a few days ago, including the piece of soul inside Mr Potter. He is perfectly fine by the way.'

'Yet you would have allowed that boy to die just because you believed you knew best.' Amelia said.

'But he had to die, or Voldemort will return.'

'Voldemort is dead and so is every piece of his soul. I did ask to examine Mr Potter when he first survived that night Albus, you turned me down. I was still able to work out what Voldemort did. When I heard that Harry left, I made sure Amelia and Sirius knew that I wish to see him. He came in one day, I took some of his blood and did some specialised charms on him while he was close to Voldemort. It did not take me long to figure out how to save the boy and destroy the horcruxes at the same time. Oh, incidentally Albus, you were also wrong about how he survived that night. Yes, Lily was the reason, but not what you believe. She worked on a way to use runes so the killing curse would deflect back on the attacker. That is how Harry survived that night.'

'If what you say is true, then Lily and James would have survived.'

'Think old man, it took her months to work out how to do it. She only had enough time to work on protecting her son, something most parents would do.'

'How did she do it?'

'That is something you will not be told. Only five people know how, that is going to stay between the five of us. But I plan to make sure Lily's sacrifice doesn't get forgotten. I am working on her plans so every magical person will be safe from the killing curse. It's time you stop believing you have all the answers.'

Albus sighed, 'Fine, but how did you get the soul out of Harry?'

'The room of love Albus. The love Harry has for Sirius forced the piece of soul from his body, but it also used the connection to destroy the other pieces of soul. The moment the souls were destroyed Voldemort's constructed body disintegrated and the last piece of soul from inside him was also destroyed. A few nights before this happened, Voldemort was screaming in pain. Do you know why?'

'No.'

'Because Harry was extremely happy. He was with his godfather, they were having a fun night and Harry said he could not stop laughing. His laughter caused Voldemort to suffer immense pain. If only Harry had his godfather growing up, this could have all been over years ago. Think about that Albus and the mistakes you made and keep making just because you believe you know what is best,' the unspeakable stared down at the defeated Albus Dumbledore before he simply vanished.

'After that, I believe you should just tell me everything Albus. Once word gets out that again thanks to Harry Potter that Voldemort is gone for good, no one will ever turn their backs on him, nor listen to you when you had nothing to do with this.'

Hphphphphp

Harry was sitting on his veranda drinking hot chocolate as he stared out over the ocean. He had placed warming charms on himself to keep the chill away. So even though it was cold, Harry loved the sight before him. It gave him a sense of peace.

'You seem very relaxed Pup, I don't blame you,' Sirius sat beside Harry then stared out over the ocean.

'I am, for the first time in my life I'm at peace. I finally know I can be normal and have a life.'

'Yep, you can, which means dating. But you have to get out so you can meet people. I know you're still wary, but you do already have some good friends, you just need to expand on that.'

'I know, but for now I'm happy to just stay friends with Neville and the twins. I also have you Sirius, I have…well, a father,' Harry shrugged.

'Which is what your parent's wanted, so never feel like you're doing something wrong if you think of me as a father. I know I've come to think of you as a son. In fact I have officially made you my heir.'

'So you wouldn't mind me calling you dad?'

'I would love it, but only if you feel comfortable with it.'

'I do because that's how I feel…dad,' Harry grinned then Sirius hugged him.

'Alright…son, enough of this, we don't want to get all mushy and emotional. It's time to think about this future and what you want to do.'

'I know, but right now I just want to enjoy the fact that Voldemort is gone, and Dumbledore is out of my life, not to mention Snape,' Harry stared at his godfather, 'I want to show you something then explain.'

'Explain what?'

'You'll see.'

Harry took his godfather…or father's hand and pulled him into the house and into his room. He levitated his bed to the side of the room to show the trap door.

'So you have a trap door in the floor of your bedroom.'

'I built it, for a reason. When I realised I had to leave Hogwarts and get right away from that place, and everyone in it, I knew I would need a way to survive, and I would need money. I wasn't sure what I could do, until I could get some type of job. Anyway, the twins told me about this room at Hogwarts. They said it turned into whatever you needed it to.'

'I heard about the come and go room, we never did find it.'

'Seventh floor, opposite the portrait of Barnabas the barmy trying to teach trolls to dance. You have to walk past the wall three times while thinking of what you need in a room. Well, I kept thinking a lot of things, but mainly how to survive and how to get money so I could leave, until I was old enough to get a job. When I opened the door, it was this huge room, filled with hundreds of years of lost things. I figured while I was trying to figure out how to get money I would explore a bit. The books I have Sirius, came from that room. It was like the room helped me by supplying me with the books on spells that I would need. I was able to block my magic so the ministry couldn't find out. This was before I was told the trace had been lifted. Its how I learned to apparate and where I found the bad luck jinx.'

'The Marauders could have used that room, it's a shame we never found it.'

'It would have helped with your pranks,' Harry knelt down and removed the locking charms on the trap door, 'As I was walking around the room, I kept seeing things, and I wondered why some of the stuff wasn't used,' Harry opened the trap door and pulled out the bag, 'I don't know if you noticed but I have twenty wands hidden around the house and the property.'

'I noticed a few, not twenty.'

'I decided to take some of the wands from the room, but there were hundreds of them. I figured that if I was attacked and I lost my wand then a wand was always within reach,' Harry opened the bag then silently called for one of the rubies he had found along with some galleons. They flew into his hand then he held it out so Sirius could see.

'There was so much in there, not just jewels, but things like tiara's and swords with gems in them. Money, I kept finding loads of money, any money lost by someone when they were at Hogwarts found its way into that room. I found a sword and dagger, matching set, then the room supplied a book that gave me the information on the sword. It wasn't historical or anything, it just belonged to an old headmaster. When he died the sword and dagger found its way into the room, since he had no family. It got me enough to buy this place and everything in it. I still have a lot of that money left, but I still have all this. I was so angry when I first found the room. I kept thinking about how I saved everyone when I killed the basilisk and all I got was a shiny plaque, money would have been better. I figured I deserved this stuff. I never planned to tell anyone that I stole all this, but I really want us to be as close as we can, which means being honest with each other. If you think I should return it, I will, and I will slowly pay back the money I already spent.'

'No, you won't because you should have been given a reward for killing that beast, which basically saved the lives of everyone in that castle. Also, you weren't told that you could have sold the basilisk which would have made you thousands of galleons. Basilisk venom alone would get you about twenty thousand, as it's so rare. I'm sure the blood and the hide would be worth a lot as well. No Pup, keep it, and like the room was used for, lost or unwanted things, you found it and you need it. Plus, you deserve it. At least we can use some of this to expand the cottage so we both have more space.'

Harry chuckled, Sirius was right. This was how Harry was going to pay to add more to the house. He would need to find a magical builder, he wanted to make sure the extensions on the cottage could be expanded if it was needed. The main house itself could not be magical expanded since it was built by muggles, but an new addition could. Maybe it was time Harry and Sirius got the home they deserved.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter fifteen

Amelia contacted Harry to let him know that Minerva McGonagall was gone from Hogwarts, but so was Trelawney and Binns. Burbage was removed as the muggle studies teacher, since she was a pureblood. She was given the job of history of magic teacher, which is the job she originally applied for.

Amelia explained to Harry that the rest of the staff had no idea about what Harry had been put through, and all Albus told them was he sorted it out. Albus never even told the staff, apart from Minerva and Severus, that it was Harry that saved them from the basilisk. But also that Harry stopped Voldemort getting the philosophers stone which prevented him from returning. Hermione and Ron only spoke about it to the rest of the Weasley's, and they kept all that information to themselves. Amelia also mentioned that Filius Flitwick received Harry's letter, he had no idea that bullying was going on in his own house. He had sorted it and would have written but he found out that no mail could get through to Harry.

Cornelius Fudge and his staff were all arrested and questioned. They will also be facing the Wizengamot. The governors were questioned, half were kept and half were sacked for taking bribes, but also for not forwarding funds that was meant for Hogwarts. In the letter Amelia wrote that she has now taken one of the positions as governor, since it was not a full time job. They only met once a week. She believed Sirius should take one of the positions as well.

Amelia wrote that the governors did pick Pomona Sprout or Filius Flitwick to be headmaster or headmistress. Pomona turned it down as she preferred to work in her green house, but she did agree to be deputy head. Filius was given the job as headmaster, but for now, he would continue to be head of Ravenclaw, until they could find more staff. Which lead to the next bit in the letter. The remaining staff would like to hire Remus Lupin for defence, Sirius Black for charms and Andromeda Tonks to take over potions, along with head of Slytherin. Ted Tonks was hired for the muggle studies class. Remus or Sirius would probably get offered head of Gryffindor. That would need to be discussed, depending if the two men took the positions.

'I won't be taking it Harry, no, we're family, I'm not leaving you again.'

Harry sighed, he knew Sirius could be great in the job, he also knew that Hogwarts was changing.

'What if I return, with conditions?'

'You would want to return to Hogwarts?'

'I know I could learn more under a teacher. You can teach me things like charms, transfiguration and defensive spells, but I still need to learn potions and I want to learn ancient runes. I've done okay, but I'm mainly copying what my mother did.'

'It's true, you could learn more if you returned to Hogwarts. What conditions?'

'First, I won't remain in Gryffindor. I don't want to put up with Ron, Hermione or Ginny, along with the others that thought I was lying. I know I have the oath but I would still see them if I was in the common room. I won't be in Slytherin, that's just out. I don't think I'm smart enough to be in Ravenclaw, but I'm also disappointed with the students from the house that is supposed to be smart. Then you have Hufflepuff, who all believed I entered and all called me names or hexed me. I'm not sure what to do if I return but won't be in any house.'

'Then as my son and heir, you share my quarters and not belong to any house. I never liked the sorting of students. I believe it causes more problems, especially between Gryffindor and Slytherin. I know there were some nice people in the snake house but they had to be careful who they made friends with or they would be harassed by their house mates.'

'I know, I saw a few that didn't think they were better than others just because they were purebloods. It does make it hard as well. Imagine if say, Neville and Susan Bones ended up good friends, or in a relationship. They would hardly get to spend time together since they are in separate houses. Maybe you should speak with Flitwick and the governors if you take one of the positions.'

'I could only take a position if the meetings were held after the last classes or on the weekend.'

'Talk it over with them Sirius. If you're at Hogwarts it might just make some of those Slytherin's think twice, but also others. With Dumbledore and McGonagall gone, and Snape dead, it's the perfect time to get decent teachers, and you are a good teacher. You've been teaching me but making the lessons fun. With the amount of lessons and homework, there isn't a lot of time to have fun at Hogwarts. All the students liked Flitwick's class, and he was fair as well. You might give the Slytherin's a hard time but I know you would not just give them detention for no reason, yet they would know it wouldn't take much for them to end up in trouble.'

'True, I might talk to Amelia and Filius first. But about you, not belonging to a house. Where will you sit, what if you want to spend time with Neville, or others?'

'If they can get rid of the house system then it wouldn't matter. I know people will go on about tradition, and how the founders began the sorting. But that was a thousand years ago, so much has changed since then that the system just does not work anymore. The founder's names could be worked into another system. Like, how about you put the first and second years under Hufflepuff. Third and fourth under Gryffindor, fifth and sixth under Slytherin and Ravenclaw will have the seventh year, or mix it up. I don't know, but it would mean people my age would mingle more with the rest of our age group. It's like Ginny, she was always hanging around with Ron and Hermione because her two best friends were in other houses.'

'That's part of it, but she also fancied you, so hanging around you, Ron and Hermione meant you might notice her.'

Harry shook his head, 'No, whenever I see a red head, I think that's what my sister or brother could have looked like if things were different. Ron was sort of becoming a brother until I saw how jealous he was of me. Ginny, no, one, I think of the sister I could have had, but also, she's got a temper like her mother and likes to yell. I don't like when someone yells because of the Dursley's. They were always yelling at me. I would end up hexing her if she yelled at me like she does to others.'

'Good, I was hoping you wouldn't look at her. I met Molly Weasley a few times, you wouldn't want to be married to someone like that. Anyway, what you said, that is a good idea. Room the first and second years together, not altogether, but still in groups of four or five to a dorm. I think four works, but that would depend on the numbers. Now the castle can change, so why not set aside, say the south side of the castle for the dorm rooms. All the students would be roughly in the same area, just with their age groups and under one of the founder's names. You could also have a common area where you could mingle with anyone, not just your age group.'

'Good idea, then have the classrooms all set up in the west side of the castle. We had to go all over the castle, and sometimes we were late. Like with Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, both in the towers. Unless you wanted to carry around a heap of heavy books, then you had to keep returning to the tower to change books. If they classrooms were on the third and fourth floors, then it would mean the students wouldn't have any reason for being late.'

'Me, your dad and the rat were often late because we woke late or had to change books. Alright, I'll work on talking to Filius, first I have to find out if you can stay with me. Unless you want to stay with Neville?'

'I would if it was changed, but I doubt they could do this until next year, at the earliest, then it's if they want to change things around. We both know what some people are like, they don't like change and they want to keep the traditions. I hate the wizard hat we have to wear but it's only for the welcoming feast, leaving feast or some type of special occasion. Also, I won't ever go to another Halloween feast. It's mandatory at the moment, I'm sure they forget that it was the night my parents were murdered yet I was made to celebrate the holiday.'

'That should be changed, not just for you and Halloween, but to anyone that lost someone. I'm sure they would like to remember their lost loved ones without having to sit in a noisy and crowded hall. Okay, we've got some good idea's here Pup, and I'm going to be pushing for it or I just won't take the job. You know Pup, if they don't want to change, then maybe I could hire myself out to tutor some students during the holidays. I could also give the basic instruction for other subjects, like potions. I might not be good enough to teach fifth year or up, but I can cover the first four years of potions. But I suppose I could study up on it, refresh my memory. I did get an exceeds expectations in potions in my N.E.W.T but some of those potions I never want to make again.'

'I want to write all this down, so even if they won't change, maybe they will ten years or even twenty years from now. Hopefully by then I will be able to use the-boy-who-lived fame to get things moving.'

'You do that, I'm going to visit Amelia then Filius. If I become a governor, I might just be able to talk a few others into making these changes.'

Harry grinned as Sirius kissed him on the head before leaving. He then went to get a notebook to write down the ideas they had just been talking about. Harry really thought these ideas would make a better life at Hogwarts. It would also mean that kids from the other houses might have gotten to know him and wouldn't have believed he had entered that tournament. Hopefully things will change, but if they didn't, then Harry would just continue to learn from Sirius and from books.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen

When Sirius explained to Amelia about the idea's he and Harry had, she grinned. She thought this might just help stop people believing that all dark arts supporters were in Slytherin. Sirius and Amelia knew that wasn't the case. Peter Pettigrew was in Gryffindor, and many that Amelia had recently arrested were in other houses when they were students, not just Slytherin. They decided to put the idea to the governors first, before taking it to the headmaster.

It was a week later that Sirius was ask to go to Hogwarts to speak with Filius Flitwick and the other teachers. Harry was asked to go along, that Filius would like to talk to him. They both believed it had something to do with the idea's Harry and Sirius had. It also could be about Sirius taking the job and if Harry would return to Hogwarts as a student.

Many students stopped and stared as Harry and Sirius walked past. No one inside Hogwarts had seen Harry since he left. They read the statement about how he was able to kill Voldemort completely this time, which was verified by two unspeakables and the head of the DMLE. It also meant that every death eater who had the dark mark died when Voldemort died. They only decided to release the statement with the truth as they wanted Harry rewarded for what he had done for their world.

Harry did get a few kids call out to him, but Harry only answered the ones he knew never believed he lied, like the Creevy brothers. But from the moment Harry was spotted, students were running all over the castle spreading the news that Harry Potter and Sirius Black were there.

The gargoyles were gone from the entrance to the headmaster's office so Harry and Sirius just headed up the stairs. The door stood open, so they stepped in to see the staff there, along with the new staff members. Remus was one, Andromeda and Ted Tonks was two more.

'Please have a seat, Sirius, Harry,' Filius smiled as he gestured towards the two vacant seats. He waited until they sat before he started, 'Alright, first is this idea of getting rid of the houses. Now most of us agree that it does cause problems amongst the students. I recently had a Ravenclaw sixth year ask how she could spend more time with her seventh year Hufflepuff boyfriend.'

'That was one of Harry's arguments. He used Neville and Susan as an example. They are both in different houses yet if they began dating it would be difficult for them to spend time together. Between the end of class and curfew, there isn't a lot of time, not especially when the students need to do homework and visit the library,' Sirius said.

'It is a good argument Harry,' Filius smiled.

'I only have one concern,' Septima asked, 'This is a big change, do you believe the parents and students will accept it?'

Harry looked at Flitwick to answer, he nodded to Harry, 'Okay, first is when something works, leave it alone. When it doesn't work, fix it. The old system of sorting into houses was causing more trouble and breeding more dark witches and wizards. I'm not saying that all Slytherin's want to be death eaters, or any student from another house. But I do know that many students during the first war was pressured into joining Voldemort. Now I know there are some Slytherin's who didn't believe in Voldemort and what he wanted for this world, yet they couldn't say anything or act like they truly wanted because they would have been bullied, or even hurt by their fellow house mates.'

'It's true, my brother was a death eater. He was pressured into by not only my parent's but also the other Slytherin's. If the students mix together then they will hear many different sides to different arguments. Everyone will be able to give their opinion but they won't be harassed if they turn around and say they don't believe purebloods are better than others,' Sirius said.

'You both make good points, and I think you're right. With so many students now that are from muggle homes, things need to change,' Septima gave Harry and Sirius a smile.

'Right, before we get further into this discussion. I would like to thank you for that letter, Harry. It seems that three quarters of the students in my house were in on this bullying and they all agreed to keep quiet. That included the prefects and head boy. They have no points left, and the ones that were involved are now serving multiple detentions. The head boy and prefects lost their badges. Even though you didn't name the student who was being bullied, it was easy to find out who she was. Luna has had all her belongings returned, but sadly the picture of her mother was destroyed. I sent word to her father who was able to get her a new copy of the picture.'

'That would normally have me angry. I treasure every picture I have of my parent's since I don't have any memories of them. If someone destroyed them I would want to curse them. I know Luna's mother died a few years ago, which means she would like to keep a picture of her mother with her, especially being away from home. One thing professor, those students did deserve punishment, but taking points from Ravenclaw is also punishing people that weren't involved, and Luna also lost any points she might have earned in class. This idea came to me after Sirius first spoke with you and Madam Bones. What if the students have individual points instead of house points? I mainly thought of it because I saw how often Hermione Granger was awarded points, yet people like Ron Weasley or the Weasley twins lost a lot of points. Even I lost a lot of points, some I earned, some I didn't. If students had individual points, then at the end of the year, the top three or maybe top five students could be given a small prize of some sort. I think it would help if they had something more to work for. I know most of us didn't care about points because Snape made a laughing stock out of the point system. But I know even someone like Ron would try to earn points if he would win a prize.'

'We could make the highest point scorer have a better prize, then second, and last third. They would still be worthwhile gifts, just the highest get the best gift,' Pomona said, 'Its like with my classes. Neville earns a lot of points in herbology, but nothing else, since he is still very shy. It could help him come out of his shell if he knew he would be given a prize.'

'That is an easy change to make, we wouldn't even need to wait until next year. The book of points that show what the teachers award or take has been found, so we could easily transfer points to the student who received them,' Filius said.

'Found, I bet anything Albus hid it so no one would know just how many points Snape took from people like Harry,' Sirius said.

'I believe you are right Sirius. We still have no idea why he allowed Severus to ruin careers. It's just lucky that people like Madam Bones and the healers at St Mungo's allowed their new employees to study potions while they begin working.'

'We know Albus always believed Voldemort would return, and he planned to have Severus return to spying. It could be as simple as Severus blackmailing Albus into allowing his treatment of students, or he would not be his spy,' Rolanda said.

'He might have just asked as well, we will probably never know,' Charity said.

'I have a question about changing it from house points to individual points,' Aurora said as she looked at Harry. All he did was nod, 'What about the house cup?'

'That's easy. The one with the highest points wins the cup for their house. But if we go with removing the houses then maybe that will need some ideas. In years to come when everyone who is here are not loyal to a house like they are now, can just win the cup. But one thing I never liked about the house cup, the teacher, or head of house is who gets the prize when it's the student who does all the work by earning points. I don't think that's fair.'

Aurora laughed, 'I think you are right Mr Potter, and I happen to agree with you.'

'We will need to have a few meetings so we can work out how to incorporate the house cup,' said Filius, 'Now Sirius, are you going to take my old position as charms professor?'

'I want to, and Harry thinks I would make a great teacher. He said I make his lessons fun but he still learns,' Sirius looked at Harry, 'I will if Harry can live in my rooms and not in Gryffindor tower.'

'I won't be associated with any of the houses, not after the way I was treated. There were times I actually feared for my health. I doubt anyone but Malfoy would try to kill me, but the others could hurt me while I slept. If it happened just once I would forget it, but twice most of the students turned on me. My second year then again this year.'

'If we did this Harry it would mean you could not play quidditch for Gryffindor, or any other house.'

'I don't want to play anymore. Only Fred and George from the quidditch team believed me when I said I didn't enter the tournament. The twins and Neville were the only ones who didn't call me the next dark lord just because I'm a parselmouth. Even though Ron and Hermione explained that I spoke another language and they still hang around me, I noticed they seemed wary of me, like I was going to attack them or something. I love flying, but that doesn't mean I have to be on the team to fly.'

'No, it doesn't, but it would just mean the other houses have a better chance at winning if they don't have to face you,' Filius said which made Sirius and Harry laugh, but some of the staff covered their laughs. Everyone knew it was true, Harry Potter was the best seeker Hogwarts had ever seen. Now he would not be playing quidditch anymore.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen

'Now back to these changes. Naturally if we do them they can't begin until next year. How would we organise the quidditch teams?'

'If we go with separating the students by year, then why not have those age groups form three or four teams. I know it means more games, but I'm sure we could schedule them so every team gets to play every other team in their age groups,' Rolanda said.

'So fourth and fifth year students would be able to make up four teams and play against each other,' Harry said, 'That would be better. I know a few older students who used their age and years of experience against me when I was a first year. It also means that first and second years could play. I was lucky to get picked, most first and second years never have a chance.'

'Exactly Harry, this way they will play against students of roughly the same age and size,' Rolanda said giving Harry a smile.

'I like it. I saw some of the older players try to intimidate young players,' Remus said.

'Then I believe these idea will work. But to continue with this, how would they be chose for each team?'

Everyone looked at everyone else, 'Um, in muggle schools, when they pick teams for the sports carnival, it's picked by the first letter of their last name. You don't have to go with that, but I know a lot of schools pick teams that way.'

Filius looked at Pomona, 'I believe we can talk it over with a few people and get an idea. If we can't agree on an idea, we can go with Harry's idea.'

'Then I will leave you to work on that Pomona. Now, how will they be seated in the great hall?'

'Smaller round tables, say a dozen at each table. That way friends can still sit together but they are also sitting with others, which gives them more chance of becoming friendly. They might find they don't like some, not all students get on with everyone. But they can swap and change if that happens,' Aurora said.

'That would work, and it's very similar to how muggles do it at their universities,' Andromeda said.

'So Sirius, these changes are going to happen, and Harry could sleep in your room, he will just need to attend class with the other students. Until next year it will mean the four houses are the same, so Harry will have to attend class with the other Gryffindor's.'

Sirius looked at Harry to answer, 'If the house system is going to change then I could handle going to classes with them. I would sit with Neville, so I wouldn't have to put up with the others. I know I'm holding a grudge, but I forgave all of them twice before. If you keep forgiving them they will keep walking all over me, or try to. I said enough is enough. I will spend time with the few that never turned on me, just not the others.'

'Then you have a charms teacher Filius.'

'Wonderful. Now head of Gryffindor, until next year.'

'Not me, I would end up having fun with the Weasley twins,' Sirius said making everyone laugh.

'Yes, I realise that, so I am hoping Remus would take head of Gryffindor house, until next year. Once the changes are made then we will work on how the head's will work.'

'Since Sirius should be passed over and Hagrid doesn't live in the castle, it makes sense to ask the last Gryffindor. So yes, I will take it.'

'Wonderful. Andromeda, I would like you to take over as head of Slytherin house. I know you don't have many of the same beliefs as many of the Slytherin students, but that should work in your favour. They will realise that they have to be careful what they say, especially about muggleborns,' Filius gestured to Ted, Andromeda's husband and a muggleborn. It made Sirius and Harry grin, people like Malfoy would hate having Andromeda Tonks as their head of house. It seems Hogwarts was changing, for the better and sooner than Sirius and Harry expected.

After a bit more talk, the meeting broke up. Harry and Sirius would need to pack up their stuff to bring to Hogwarts, but Harry would also need a new uniform and robes. First Harry spoke with the ancient runes teacher, Professor Bathsheda Babbling, about joining her class. He explained what he had been studying and even showed her his notebook. Harry had a feeling that he might return to Hogwarts and he would need to speak with Babbling about her class. After she saw Harry's work, she agreed to allow him to join his fellow fourth years, he was only slightly behind the rest of his year, she was positive he could catch up.

Harry then spoke with Flitwick about an idea for the reward gift to be given for the top points earner. Harry did offer to pay this year for the gifts. He didn't tell Flitwick why, he still felt a little guilty about all the stuff he stole. He figured giving back some by offering to buy the gifts would ease his guilty conscious, at least a little. He still felt he deserved some more for killing the basilisk, so he was going to keep what he did steal, just give a little back to Hogwarts.

Harry and Sirius left Hogwarts and headed straight to the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon alley. Sirius would need things for his class, and Harry would need clothes. Sirius made sure to get red ink so he could mark students work. He wanted them to easily see what mark they had for their work. He also grabbed more books on charms, so even though he would use the ones already assigned by Filius, he knew he would want to change things around the following year. Once Sirius finished buying everything he needed, they headed to Madam Malkins.

'Even though I need this stuff dad, you also need new robes. All the teachers wear robes.'

Sirius groaned, 'I'm like you, prefer jeans and a shirts, I never did like robes.'

'No, just like me, but you have no choice,' Harry pulled Sirius into the shop then explained what they both needed.

After an hour of being fitting for robes and Harry for a uniform, he decided to speak with Madam Malkin about an idea he had. Even though this idea would help with the gifts for students, it wouldn't be this shop, it would be for shops like quality quidditch supplies and Flourish and Blotts, or Scrivenshafts. When they finally finished in Madam Malkins, Harry and Sirius went to some of the other shops to explain his idea and how it's used in the muggle world and it's very popular. Quality quidditch supplies said they would think about it.

When Harry explained how the point system at Hogwarts was going to change and how the top three or five students would be given a gift at the end of the year, and how he wanted to give the winners a choice of prize. The owner of the quidditch shop instantly said he would try it and see how it would go. Harry paid for what he wanted, but had the shop keep it until closer to the end of the year. After that shop they went to others and explained about the idea Harry had and how the point system was being changed. Flourish and Blotts went with it since they knew that the smarter students would probably be the winners or at least one of the winners. Owlops emporium also liked the idea, so they also decided to try it.

Harry and Sirius went back to the cabin so they could begin to pack, 'So we'll pack, get to Hogwarts then have dinner in the great hall. Will you be okay sitting with the other Gryffindor's?'

'I'll sit with Neville, so I'll be fine. I will explain to him that I'm staying with you in your room, for now. No one will be told about demolishing the house system until the holidays. I can't believe that all the teachers agreed with the idea's we had. And only one had some concerns.'

'It makes sense, and since most of the staff are younger, and had been affected by Voldemort and his death eaters. They knew that separating the students causes more trouble.'

'Even though I hated Malfoy the moment I met him, before Hogwarts, I knew I didn't want to associate with him. I also knew that not all Slytherin's would be like him. I mean Hermione told me about two girls from Slytherin that had ancient runes with her. She said they never caused any trouble or called her a mudblood. Oh I can see Professor Tonks giving out a lot of detentions from people like Malfoy and Parkinson. They always called Hermione a mudblood.'

'That's why Filius offered her the position as head of Slytherin. Most people know or will know soon that she's married to a muggleborn, who just happens to be a teacher. It's about time they got a muggleborn to teach that class.'

'It should be a muggleborn, muggle raised or a squib that lives in the muggle world that teachers that class. Hermione explained what it was like when she took it in third year. It was at least fifty years out of date. That's another thing that you should speak with Flitwick about. How could McGonagall and Dumbledore justify giving a thirteen year old a time turner. I think many Ravenclaw's would want one since they love to study. I know it saved your life dad, but it was irresponsible, in my opinion.'

'It was, so even though it did help me, it should never have been allowed. I doubt Albus got permission from the unspeakables to get a time turner for a student. But it's also unfair, she ended up with more time than every other student.'

'There were some situations where I wish I had more time, especially when studying for end of year tests. So yes, it was unfair,' Harry's brow furrowed, 'You don't think there was blackmail or something involved, do you?'

'I'm not sure what you mean.'

'What if Dumbledore wanted Hermione to…well, spy on me, tell him what I'm up to. He might have offered her to use the time turner if she would agree to keep an eye on me.'

'It's possible, especially when she tried to get you to forgive her. Even after you left and the oath, she tried to write. With Dumbledore gone now, and you staying in my room, she won't be able to spy on you. Not that it would do any good now Voldemort is dead.'

'True, but the oath keeps them away from me, so it's all good. We should go though so we can settle in.'

'Are you looking forward to returning?'

'Yes and no. I always loved being at Hogwarts, I just didn't want to take the chance of ending up facing death again. Okay, most of the students are sheep that don't bother thinking for themselves. Hopefully now they do know the truth they might start to ask questions instead of just believing rumours.'

'Let's hope Pup.'

Harry and Sirius finished packing, and since Sirius would basically be living at the castle, he packed up some personal things, like pictures he had of the Marauders. There was even a picture of Sirius holding Harry as a baby. Harry would be spending almost full time at the castle, at least for another few years, so he decided to take a few personal things as well. They would stay in his bedroom in Sirius' chambers.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter eighteen

As it got close to dinner, Harry and Sirius, who were now wearing their robes, left their room at Hogwarts and headed to the great hall.

'Are you ready for more attention Pup?'

'Not really, but I know it will happen. I'll ignore it like I always do.'

Sirius stopped and faced Harry, 'I want you to have this.'

Harry looked at the ring Sirius was wearing, 'This is the Black heir ring.'

'Yes, you are my heir Harry, and my son, you should wear it. It won't take anything away from your parent's or have anyone thinking you're now a Black. This will offer you protection, it will also let Malfoy know that he will never end up with the Black money. But I do think of you as my son, I want to show everyone that.'

Harry stared at the ring, then nodded. He allowed Sirius to place it on his right ring finger. It shrunk to fit then glowed as the enchantments activated.

'So what am I protected against?'

'Basic spells that could cut you, also any types of poisons. It works against love potions as well. With you being the boy who lived, and now the boy who conquered, you will have many girls after you.'

'Hermione told me how some girls wanted to slip me a potion. But isn't using a love potion on someone without their knowledge illegal?'

'Yes, it is, but many won't care if they can get you.'

'Yeah, I suppose you're right. But it's more than just how I'm thought of dad. Many would know that the Blacks are wealthy and one of the oldest in our world. They could do it for that. You also have to be careful who you might end up with.'

'I was always careful, for that reason. Now are you ready?'

'Yep, let's get it over with.'

Harry and Sirius stepped into the great hall. The students fell silence, except for Fred, George and Neville who cheered making Harry smile. Sirius hugged Harry when they got to where Neville was then kissed his head.

'See you tonight…son,' Sirius grinned.

'You will…dad,' Harry grinned then watched as his father head to the staff table before he sat next to Neville.

'So are you back for good or just visiting?'

'If I was visiting Neville I wouldn't be in robes, I hate robes. No, I'm back but I'm staying in my dad's rooms, just going to class with you and that lot. But dad said you can visit with me in his rooms, until curfew.'

'I might just do that,' Neville smiled.

'Did we get an invitation?' Fred and George asked.

'Yeah, we want to speak with Padfoot,' Fred said.

'Pick his brain for idea's,' George said.

'I'm sure he won't mind, but I will ask. Just not tonight, we've had a long day.'

'So where are your glasses?' Neville asked as he began eating.

'After I offed Voldyshorts using the room in the department of mysteries, it seemed to heal me. My bad eyesight was due to how often my cousin hit me in the face and head. It's why I'm taller, and have more muscle. All the mistreatment from the Dursley's was healed. I have never felt this good before.'

Neville patted Harry on the back. He could see how good Harry looked, but also how happy he looked. He noticed that Harry called his godfather, dad, and Professor Black called Harry son. It seems Harry finally got himself a family.

When dinner was almost finished, Filius stood up and called for attention. It took a while but the students slowly fell quiet.

'I have an announcement to make that will affect every student here,' Filius glanced around but he did stare at Harry for a few seconds before he finished scanning the room, 'From this moment on, there will be no more house points.'

The staff expected some students would be upset, which some were, but some didn't seem worried at all.

'There will not be house points, but there will be individual points. I had someone explain to me that taking points from the entire house was basically punishing the whole house and not the individual, or individuals. The book that shows which student receives or loses points was found recently, so the staff and I spent most of the day making an hour glass for each student. The points that students won any time during this school year has been added. Since there is so many, we have spread out the hour glasses over the first and second floors. Now there is more to this but I would like to call Harry Potter to join me please.'

'Oh shit,' Harry murmured as he got up and headed for the staff table.

'I explained to Mr Potter how many students from one house were punished and lost every point they had. He reminded me that I was punishing the entire house, even those that had won points yet never did anything wrong. He came up with this idea of individual points and he also came up with an award system. Now on to this new award system. Mr Potter, would you care to explain?'

'Only because you have me up here Professor,' Harry mumbled but the ones that heard him snickered, including Sirius. Harry glanced at all the students, then cleared his throat, 'As you all know, normally the house with the most points wins the house cup. Well, I figured if you do the work in class to earn the points, and if you behave which also gives you points then you should get something for it. A prize you could say. So with the headmaster's permission, for this year I will be supplying gifts for the top five students who gain the most points. Now since all of you are different and enjoy different things I tried to figure out what gifts would work best. For this year I organised different gifts. Let me explain,' Harry ran his fingers through his hair while he decided how to explain.

'Now someone like Daphne Greengrass, who as most of you know earns a lot of points for Slytherin. What if the gift she won was a broom? That wouldn't suit her as she does not like to fly. So I organised gifts where you can chose between a Nimbus 2004 or they can chose to buy books from Flourish and Blotts for the same amount of money. You might like to buy an owl with a cage and stand to go with it. My father,' Harry smiled at Sirius who smiled back, 'and I spent hours today in Diagon alley speaking with all the owners of the shops. They have agreed to help out with this starting from next year. For now I just organised the types of gifts that you can chose from at the end of this year. Next year the gifts will be the choice of the five students who have the most points. I remembered something from the muggle world that is very popular, gift certificates. For all the purebloods who have no idea what I'm talking about I can explain. What these are is basically a card which gives you money, or credit for a specific shop. You can buy these as gifts when you have no idea what to buy someone. So you can buy this card worth twenty galleons and give it as a gift. Now for the winners, once you make your choice, you will be given a card for that particular shop, then you can spend up to the amount that the card indicates. The shop owners all liked the idea, so they are going to implement it straight away, but it will take time for them to set it up. The student with the highest points tally will have a gift worth one hundred galleons. The second highest will have a gift worth seventy five galleons. The third will have a gift worth fifty galleons. Fourth will get one thirty five galleons, and fifth will get twenty galleons.'

Students began to talk excitedly about the amount they could win. Harry realised there was no reason to stay near the staff table so he smiled at the headmaster then his father before heading back to sit beside Neville.

'So this was your idea?'

'Yeah. See, I wrote and told Flitwick about Luna and how she was being bullied. He told me during the meeting we had that all Ravenclaw's points were gone. I said that even Luna was being punished, she lost the points she earned.'

'I never thought of it like that, but you're right. Why not just offer money?'

'I did think of that but some students would just waste it, or spend all of it on something ridiculous like Honeydukes chocolate or Zonko products. I figured this will help the shops as well since they will still getting the business. It also means that the students might buy something that will help them while they are at Hogwarts. So whether it's a broom, an owl or books, they can use them here. Even though I mentioned Daphne Greengrass, I mainly thought of Hermione and how she would feel if she won a broom. She wouldn't use it so it would end up being a terrible prize, at least for her. It's like you Neville, you don't like to fly, yet if you end up with more points than others, then you could be stuck with a very good broom yet it wouldn't get used.'

'I would rather something from one of the garden centres.'

'Which I plan to visit during the holidays. For now I just concentrated on the shops in Diagon alley.'

'It makes sense since most of us do our shopping there. It's a good idea Harry and one that might get people to work harder in class,' Neville gestured towards Ron who was talking to Dean and Seamus about winning a broom.

'I mentioned that when I explained this idea. Ron is lazy, but for a chance to win a new broom and a good one like the new nimbus then he would study almost as much as Hermione.'

'I don't think he'd go that far, but far enough. This book for points though, I never heard of it.'

'It shows all the points given and taken by a teacher, and it names the students as well as the reason. It's magically protected so no teacher can influence it. Sirius and I believe Dumbledore deliberately misplaced it since he allowed Snape to abuse the point system. Anyway, now all those points that you earned in herbology are now in your own personal hour glass. You'll be able to check it out when you head back to Gryffindor tower.'

'Blimey, I never realised, but I have earned a lot of points in herbology. I haven't lost any since Snape's been gone.'

'Like many other Gryffindor's, Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's.'


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen

'Professor Tonks, the female one, she is now head of Slytherin and married to a muggleborn, professor Ted Tonks. Andromeda Tonks is Sirius' cousin, and one of the good ones from the family. Their daughter is also an auror.'

'She looks a lot like Bellatrix Lestrange.'

'They're sisters, along with Malfoy's mum, but she hasn't had anything to do with her family since she was sixteen. She left home and went to one of her uncles who wasn't into the dark arts like the rest of the family. She was disowned when she married a muggleborn. Sirius reinstated her into the family, then he disowned her two sisters, Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy. Bellatrix died when Voldy died. But professor Tonks is really nice and knows potions. She said it's a wonder a student wasn't killed because of Snape.'

'There was so many accidents and so many students hurt. You would think they would have some type of protection placed on the potions room.'

'Sirius found out that many of the wards from around Hogwarts were dismantled. It's like the one that would detect the dark mark. Dumbledore removed that one to have Snape teaching, since he was a death eater. When madam bones was here she had one of her senior aurors examine the wards. They were amazed and angry with how vulnerable the students were. Like the troll in our first year, the wards should have stopped it getting in. But if it did get in then the headmaster would have been alerted the moment it crossed the boundary.'

'I never thought of that, but it makes sense. I mean it was always known that Hogwarts was the safest place in the magical world, yet there's been a lot of danger.'

'Exactly, and the old man is part of the reason. But like with the potions class, there were wards to stop explosions, there were also wards to stop students sabotaging other people's potions.'

'Like yours,' Neville glanced over at the Slytherin table, 'At least once a month Malfoy would throw something in your potion then you would end up in detention. Look at him Harry,' Neville gestured towards Malfoy.

'He's not happy, but if you notice only about a dozen are upset about the changes, the rest seem fine.'

'Yeah, they do,' Neville glanced back at Harry and noticed he was still staring at the Slytherin table. He moved slightly to try and see just who it was Harry was staring at. When he thought he figured it out, he smirked then went back to his dinner. Neville knew this new development with Harry just might cause more trouble with some, like Ron and Malfoy. But Neville also knew it could make things better. It seems Harry Potter was not just the-boy-who-conquered, he was the boy that just might finally unite the students like they haven't been since the founders were still at Hogwarts.

Harry arrived back at the rooms he was sharing with Sirius, 'I had an idea, its to do with the points system and the gifts.'

'Then explain. If you can make it better than it would be best now before the changes next year.'

'Well, there are some students who would know they will never be one of the five, so they might not even bother trying to earn points. Neville and I overheard Ron, Dean and Seamus talking about the broom the top student could win. Out of the three of them only Dean would have a shot, but since it's so close to the end of the school year I doubt he would have enough.'

'You're right, many won't bother. So you have an idea that would help?'

'Yeah. Okay, we keep the top five students to win the gift card at the end of the school year. But what if we put a small shop here inside Hogwarts. We make sure it has stuff like quidditch team t-shirts or any quidditch team merchandise. We have things that students just like to buy or need to buy. Quills, fancy or plain, Honeydukes, chocolate frog cards, robes, there is a wide range of stuff we could put there. But why I suggested this is what if students like Ron earns the odd points, what does he get? At the moment nothing. If he did get something then it might just give him the incentive to keep working harder.'

'So you have an idea that has to do with this shop.'

'Right, the student can exchange their points for something in the shop. They can just buy things if they want or need, like if they need a new quill. But if someone like Neville earns fifty points in two months he could go into the shop and exchange those points for something worth fifty points. I know it will take a bit to work out what a quill could be worth in points, but it might be worth it. I don't mind supplying the stuff that will be in the shop, that way it doesn't come out of the school funds.'

'I think it's a good idea even if it would take a lot of discussions on what is worth what. I will chip in with some money as well. We might even be able to talk a few shop owners into the odd free item. We buy say, five items they give two for free. You really seem to come up with some great idea's Harry.'

'I just realised that most students would probably behave more if they got something out of it. Ron's family doesn't have a lot, this way he could get something even if it's not a broom. We could offer brooms, like the nimbus 2000, which is still a good broom compared to the shooting star or the clean sweep. Also to work this so it's fair, then the teachers would have to agree on how much points they give out for what the student did, same with taking them away. Say if I answered a question correctly, then I could get five points, and so on. Think of this as well, say Ron had fifty points but he needed just five or ten more points to get a Chudley Cannons t shirt or signed picture. He would end up being a model student. It might not last but it could just make him realise that if he just behaves and studies instead of playing chess then it just might get him something he wants. I know he talked about trying out for quidditch, as a keeper. He could earn enough to buy some new keeper gloves. Say Ron handed in his homework at the right time and the right length, he could get five or ten points for that. If it's a day late or he didn't put the work in then he wouldn't get any points. We could even put things like games in the shop and not just from the wizarding world, but muggle games. I figured there are bound to be a lot of kids here that like playing board games.'

'All of that are great idea's Harry, they really are. And you are right. We would need to discuss this with the staff, and work out who would run the shop.'

'It wouldn't need to be open every day. Let's say one or two days at the end of every month, or one day a week, even one or two days a fortnight, and just for a few hour. We can work that out depending on how popular it ends up. I wouldn't mind running it once a month. I could give some type of oath that I won't rip anyone off. We could get people that we know are honest and asked them. I might not want to have anything to do with Hermione, but she would never steal or try to stop someone getting what they deserved just because she didn't like someone.'

'Yes, that could work, but it could cause problems as well. I think it would need to be a member of staff or we bring in someone else.'

'The staff like their time off, I doubt they would want to give it up.'

'Maybe not, we won't know until we ask. I'll set up a meeting on the weekend so we can discuss it and throw around ideas. If it is a few hours only once a month, then I would give up an hour or two, I'm sure Remus would as well. I'll let you know so you can be there since it was your idea.'

'Okay, I best read a bit so I'm ready for classes tomorrow.' Harry hugged his godfather then headed to his room. Sirius was feeling prouder and prouder of Harry. Every idea he had come up with would definitely help the students at Hogwarts. It could bring other students forward who had ideas. Before everyone knew things were done a certain way and it was tradition so they never told anyone they might have ideas. Now with the point system being changed and it was Harry's idea, it just might make a difference.

Like Harry said, when he had classes with the other Gryffindor's, he sat with Neville. When he went to class that Neville wasn't attending, like ancient runes, Hermione had tried to approach his table. She ended up being forced back towards the door and only thanks to the teacher who stopped Hermione hitting the wall saved her from ending up unconscious.

Just as ancient runes was about to start, Harry, who was reading his book, felt someone sit beside him. He stiffen until he saw who it was.

'I hope you don't mind sharing with a Slytherin Mr Potter?'

'No, I don't mind at all Miss Greengrass.'

'You never took this class before, so how is it you are now?'

'I found out my mother was brilliant in this subject, so I began to study her note books while I was away. I found I enjoyed it, so I spoke with Professor Babbling and showed her the work I had been doing. She agreed to allow me to join her class. I still have a lot of catching up to do, but I have the basics down. When I realised what runes are used for, I knew I needed to know more as I began to think of a few careers that would need good marks in this subject.'

'I would like to work on wards when I leave here and you need to carve the warding stones with the right runes to get the wards to work.'

'That is one career I am considering. But I also like the idea of personalised warding. While I was gone I visited my family's home. There were a few items there that my mother protected through runes, items that had been in my father's family for centuries,' Harry lifted his right hand, 'It's like this ring, Sirius explained how it had protection, which is done by runes. I especially like the idea of being protected from love potions.'

'You believe some would use a love potion on you?'

'Yes, I would. Before I stopped talking to Hermione, she told me that she overheard girls talking about slipping me a love potion. I also know that Ginny Weasley fancied me, and her mother used a love potion when she was a student here. I don't want my free will taken away from me.'

'Alright everyone, quiet down and open your book to page two hundred and twelve.'

Harry and Daphne gave each other a smile before the opened their books, ready for their lesson.

At the end of the lesson Harry held Daphne back, 'I enjoyed getting to know you, but I am concerned that if certain individuals find out, it could cause you trouble. I don't want that.'

'Oh, I don't think a certain blond will be any trouble at all. I overheard him in the common room last night. He saw the ring on your finger and knew what it meant. You are the heir to Lord Black, which means if he causes you any trouble, then Lord Black could cause a lot of problems for his mother, and him since he has Black blood.'

'Sirius said he would need to explain more about how families like the Blacks work. He just said I wouldn't need to worry about Malfoy. I normally don't worry about the blond pounce, but since I am sort of responsible for the death of his father, Sirius and I figured he might try to curse me.'

'He probably would if you weren't protected by the head of the Black family. Draco Malfoy might not care for anything but himself, but he does love his mother. He would want to protect her. Lord Black may have disowned Narcissa Malfoy, but he did not confiscate the money her parent's paid for the dowry. If Lord Black did take that, then there would not be much left for Draco.'

'It all comes down to money. I know we need it, but it causes so much trouble. But thanks for explaining. At least I know now that you should be fine in the snake pit.'

'I only have to put up with them until the end of the school year,' Daphne smiled, 'My father is one of the governors. He explained about some of the changes that will begin next year. My whole family liked the idea and it will allow many of us to interact with people we want to and not forced to.'

'Exactly, but as I said when I explained, it will make it easier for students who are dating that happen to be in different houses. That won't be a problem from next year.'

'Would you walk me to the great hall?'

'Yes, it would be my pleasure.'

Harry and Daphne kept talking as they headed down through the castle. They had many students stop and stare at them as they passed. When Ginny Weasley saw Harry being friendly with a Slytherin, and a beautiful female Slytherin, she ended up furious. She wanted to hex her brother for starting the fight with Harry which caused not only Ron but Ginny to be forced to stay away from Harry. She lost her dreams of marrying Harry Potter, and now it looks like he might end up with a snake, and there was nothing she could do about it.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter twenty

The headmaster along with all the staff smiled at Harry when Sirius explained the extra idea Harry had for the points given to students. Everyone said they would give an hour to run the shop. They did decide to try it straight away, but open it for every weekend, again only for a couple of hours. Between all of them they would only have to give one hour a month. That would give them time to see how often they needed to open the little shop, and if it ended up popular.

Filius asked if maybe Harry would like to go with his father and Professor Lupin to buy what they would place in their shop that could be exchanged for gifts. Harry liked the idea of buying for Hogwarts. All they needed to do was work out how many points each item would be worth. Something like a broom would be around two hundreds points. A quidditch team t-shirt would be around fifty points. Quills would be twenty points. All the staff gave ideas on what items could be offered in the shop, but since the students could use money, they were going to add more to the shop, like robes or quidditch gear.

'What gave you this idea Harry?' Pomona asked.

'At first it was a shop to buy things. See, since first and second years can't visit Hogsmeade they can't buy things like Honeydukes chocolate, or quills if theirs get broken. I broke so many in my first year since I wasn't used to them that I ended up having to borrow one from Hermione until I could send Hedwig with my order. I didn't even know I could do that until Angelina told me I could owl order things.'

'It's true, so many first and second years often need to send away for quills, or parchment. So you took that idea and figured the point system could work for it,' Filius said.

'Yes, but I also know that not everyone has money they can spare. There is also the part where some students would know they will never be the top five students so they might not bother trying to earn points. If they realised just doing their homework on time they could earn points which they could get a t-shirt of their favourite quidditch team, many would work harder. I know someone like Hermione would prefer to swap her points for books, but we can't have a library size shop to cover everything. This is mainly to help the students but it also helps the staff. They might not have as many students causing trouble, especially if they only need to earn five or ten points to get something they want.'

'You've amazed me Harry. Even though you weren't treated the best by staff and students, here you are coming up with ideas to help not only the students get things they need or want, it helps the staff as well. But you're also showing an intelligence that I never saw before,' Filius said.

Harry sighed but he figured he should explain, 'I used to dumb myself down, deliberately.'

'Harry, you don't have to explain,' Sirius said kindly.

'No, I want to, it might help others, if there are others,' Harry ran his hand through his hair, 'My muggle relatives would use excessive punishment if I did better in school than their son. Dudley was, sorry to say, a lot like Crabbe and Goyle. They made sure no one, neighbours or teachers would believe me if I mentioned this. They also made sure no one would ever want to be my friend. When I got on the Hogwarts Express for the first time I was scared, I was also wondering if I would get everyone asking about my scar. Well, Ron came in, we talked, I realised that he had a lot of second hand things so I relaxed around him. When Ron wanted to skive off work I was scared that if I didn't I would lose my only friend. So I basically fell back on the way I survived my life with the Dursley's,' Harry shrugged but he was looking down at his hands in his lap.

'It was part of Albus' plans. Make Harry's life miserable at his home and here so when the time comes Harry would rather die and join his parents which would help destroy Voldemort, for good. I can't go into all the details but at one time we believed the only way Voldemort would ever be gone for good was if Harry died. Luckily, the unspeakables was able to come up with a solution which saved Harry but also allowed Harry to destroy Voldemort, just like the prophecy said. Harry has a good heart even with how he was treated by his relatives and here. He can't help wanting to help,' Sirius said but his arm was around his son's shoulders.

'At least we now know why you seemed to hold back when we knew you could do more,' Filius said kindly.

'You broke ties with someone who was not a very good influence on you so you are now showing your true potential,' Bathsheba said.

'It will also let us know what to look out for. There are all kinds of abuse, we mostly watch out for physical abuse, but we can see that emotional abuse is just as serious,' Filius said, 'We have been keeping an eye out for anyone we believed might be being bullied. But sometimes the child will hide what is going on at home,' Filius stared at Harry who still had his head down, 'Harry,' Filius waited until the boy looked up, 'It was brave of you to admit what you went through, and we will make sure this information will be kept between us. We will also use it to find any other student who may need help. But I finally understand why you left. Everyone, no matter who it is or how strong they are, sometimes they just say enough. You got to that point so instead of doing what some students will do and lash out by cursing others, you left.'

'There were times I wanted to curse people. But I knew that would make me just as bad as the Dursley's or death eaters. I didn't want to be like that so I decided to get away from everyone. I planned to stay hidden until I was an adult then head overseas and hope I could find a place where I fit in.'

'You fit in here and you've proven that by bringing Hogwarts further than it has in hundreds of years,' Filius said, 'We thank you for all your ideas which is going to make Hogwarts great again. Why don't you go and enjoy the rest of your day.'

'I'll see you later Pup.'

Harry gave everyone a smile, hugged his father then left the tower. As he was walking down through the castle he sensed someone behind him. He turned ready for anything then smiled as he saw Daphne.

'So Harry was punished if he did well in classes. It all makes sense now. I often heard Ron telling Harry they only had to do enough to pass.' Remus said sadly.

'Even though we know Ron is a bit lazy and only does the amount of work that will keep him from repeating a year. We also believe that Albus had a hand in this by making sure Ron and Hermione kept Harry from learning more than the basics. We can't prove any of this but we also believe they were spying on Harry for Albus. With the way Harry was raised he got used to being very observant of the people around him. It was how he avoided some extreme punishment.' Sirius explained.

'That's all changed now so at least Harry won't need to hide who he really is. We have just over an hour before dinner. Let's see if we can figure out how many points it will cost for the items that will be supplied.

By the time Sirius got down to the great hall, he didn't see Harry. He sat at the staff table but kept a look out for his son. It was only a few minutes later that Sirius saw Harry enter the great hall, but he was not alone. Harry was with Daphne Greengrass, and they were holding hands. What surprised Sirius was Harry gave Daphne a small kiss on the lips before they parted ways and went to their individual tables. This is where Harry's idea will help. From the beginning of next year there would be no house tables so Harry and his now girlfriend would be able to sit together during meals.

Sirius looked around the great hall. He saw Ginny Weasley who seemed to be having a go at Ron, but the twins had taken her wand. Sirius knew the youngest Weasley had a crush on Harry, now she would know she will never get a chance with him.

All Sirius wanted was for Harry to have a good life, but also to have people around him that liked him for him and not what they could get out of that friendship. Ever since Harry decided to leave, Sirius wasn't sure if he would ever have Harry in his life. Now they were together, they were family and they were helping to make not only Hogwarts a better place for students and staff, they were also helping the magical world.

As Sirius looked Harry again, he saw him smiling as he stared at the beautiful blond girl at the Slytherin table. But it wasn't just that Harry was smiling that made Sirius happy. It was the look of contented peace that Harry had that told Sirius Harry was finally able to let go of everything that happened to him. Harry could finally be what he always wanted, to be known as Harry, just another student like all the other students at Hogwarts. He wasn't just the boy who lived, and he wasn't just the boy who conquered. He was a fourteen year old teenager who wanted to study, he wanted to fly and he wanted to have a girlfriend, just like any other teenager. Sirius couldn't help smiling at Harry, who was finally getting the life he deserved.

The end:

I wish to thank everyone for reading, and hope I can continue to bring interesting stories for the fans of fanfiction.


End file.
